The Republican candidate has previously promised that if elected president again he would impose a 100% tariff on imported cars and trucks in order to help the domestic auto industry.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested Sunday he could impose tariffs of more than 200 percent on vehicles imported from Mexico, saying his goal would be to prevent the sale of cars from Mexico to the United States.

"All I'm doing is saying, 'I'll put 200 or 500, I don't care.' I'll put a number where they can't sell a car," he said during an interview on Fox News that aired Sunday. "I don't want them to hurt our car companies."

Trump, who is facing Democrat Kamala Harris in a tight race, has previously promised that if elected president again he would impose a 100% tariff on imported cars and trucks in a bid to help the domestic auto industry.

At a rally last week in Juneau, Wisconsin, Trump doubled that number.

"When I use 200, I use it as a number," he said during the Fox News interview. "I don't want their car. They won't be able to sell cars. I'm not going to let them build a factory right across the border and sell millions of cars in the United States and destroy even more Detroit."

Trump previously threatened to impose large tariffs on cars from Mexico as president and as a candidate in 2016. Imposing tariffs of up to 25% on Mexican cars and components could have severe impacts on the industry and raise vehicle costs, automakers said in 2019.

At Trump’s urging, the United States, Mexico and Canada renegotiated the North American free trade agreement in 2018, adding provisions that U.S. officials said would keep more of the heavily regionalized auto manufacturing sector in the United States.