On the presidential campaign trail, Republican contender Donald Trump continued to blast Ford Motor Company for its expansion plans in Mexico, telling crowds in Warren, Michigan near Detroit that he is “100% sure” that his presidency would keep Ford from opening any more plants there.
“We are going to do something that is going to [be] great [and] a very big beneficiary is going to be Michigan,” said Trump, according to the Detroit Free Press. “The car business is being abused more than most other businesses… Mexico is becoming the new China.” He went on to claim that Ford’s plans to shift some production to Mexico would come at the expense of two US plants – a claim with no apparent basis in reality.
Donald Trump reiterated his strategy to keep Ford production out of Mexico by threatening the automaker with a 35% tariff on all parts and vehicles imported from there. Such a tariff would likely be daft – if not impossible – as the Detroit Free Press reports that even with the requisite support of Congress, it would risk kicking off a trade war.
Donald Trump’s bullying of Ford Motor Company seems rather unusual to us; not only does Ford plan to invest as much as $9 billion into domestic production over the next four years, but it’s not the only US automaker to announce plans to invest in expanding Mexican production. For instance, in December 2014, General Motors announced that it would commit $5 billion to bolstering Mexico production over 6 years.
Comments
I hate the fact that Ford is having cars built there, but than you have GM importing cars from China.
This guys pure comedy, I’m just enjoying the show from the north.