Ford pulls Mexican plant plans in the wake of Trump tax threats
President-elect Donald Trump is ensuring that big US companies manufacture in their homeland, by making typically bombastic threats over Twitter.
Trump has long promised an increase in jobs for Americans, and he is taking an aggressive stance on the matter. On January 3rd, he tweeted: ‘General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A. or pay big border tax!’
He has stated on prior occasions that he will force companies which take production out of America to pay a 35 percent tax on exports into the US. Sean Spicer, part of Trump’s transition team, stated: “…the tweet was specific to General Motors. But I think you’ve seen an overall philosophy during the campaign and since he was elected to stand up for American workers and make sure that American companies don’t benefit from moving their companies overseas and leaving American workers behind.”
Just a few hours after Trump published his tweet, Ford Motor Company announced that it had cancelled plans to build in Mexico and would instead be pouring $700 million and 700 job roles into its Michigan plant. While Ford CEO Mark Fields claims that this wasn’t part of a deal with Trump, he did state in an interview with CNN that investing in the US is a “vote of confidence” in Trump’s pro-business stance.
While this is good news for the American economy and workers, Trump’s attitude in creating this change leaves something to be desired.