Impending tariffs on Canada and Mexico risk driving up U.S. car prices by as much as $12,000, further squeezing consumers and wreaking havoc across the intricate web of automotive supply lines spanning the continent.

The cost to build a crossover utility vehicle will rise by at least $4,000, while the increase would be three times that for an electric vehicle examined in a new study from Anderson Economic Group, an automotive consultant in East Lansing, Mich. And those costs would likely be passed on to consumers, the study found.

“That kind of cost increase will lead directly — and I expect almost immediately — to a decline in sales of the models that have the biggest trade impacts,” Patrick Anderson, chief executive officer of Anderson Economic Group, said in an interview.

Tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico threaten to exacerbate an automotive affordability crisis that […]