President Donald Trump said he expects consumers to migrate to U.S.-made cars if automakers raise prices in response to the 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles and parts that he has vowed to impose.

“I couldn’t care less if they raise prices because people are going to start buying American cars,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Saturday.

Trump was asked whether he warned automaker chief executives not to raise consumer prices in response to the 25% tariffs he plans to impose on some of their products next week.

“No, I never said that,” Trump said. “I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are going to buy American-made cars,” he said.

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro said on "Fox News Sunday" that the tariffs due to start this week would raise $100 billion, while the total tariffs packages would raise another $600 billion.

“It’s the biggest tax cut in American history for the middle class, for the blue-collar deplorables,” he said, making a reference to a term former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton used to describe some Trump supporters in 2016.

Navarro also predicted that the tariffs wouldn’t mean higher prices. “The reason why we’re not going to see inflation is because the foreigners are going to eat most of it.”

GM imports some Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks from plants in Mexico and Canada and the entry-level Chevy Trax compact SUV from South Korea. The Chevrolet Equinox crossover SUV is also imported. Last year GM sold more than 200,000 each of the Equinox and Trax, which are among its cheapest vehicles. The automaker also makes electric versions of the Equinox and Blazer in Mexico.

Americans are beginning to show some concern about Trump’s focus on tariffs over lowering consumer prices. A CBS-YouGov poll released Sunday showed that almost two-thirds, or 64%, of Americans believe Trump isn’t spending enough time on lower prices and more than half, 55%, say he’s spending too much time on imposing tariffs.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said Sunday that any short-term pain would dissipate.

“Think ahead to a year or two from now, now that we have those auto tariffs, how many cars are going to be made in the U.S. by U.S. firms with U.S. workers? It’s going to be a boom,” Hassett said on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures."

Starting next week, the new 25% tariffs will apply to all imported passenger vehicles and light trucks, as well as to key parts like engines, transmissions and electrical components, on top of any duties already in effect. The levies will only apply to the non-U.S. share of vehicles and parts imported under a free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Auto prices are broadly expected to increase by thousands of dollars, with JPMorgan & Chase Co. analysts estimating prices will jump 11% on average.

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(With assistance from David Welch, Gabrielle Coppola, Josh Wingrove and Jonnelle Marte.)

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