Trump Criticizes Ford’s Move, Saying, “We Shouldn’t Allow It”
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), while disclosing its future growth strategy, told investors this week that it plans to move all of its small car production from the U.S. to neighboring Mexico.
Mexico has seen many car makers moving their productions to the country in the past due to its competitive production incentives.
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Some of the world’s largest car makers, including General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), Honda Motor Company Ltd. (NYSE:HMC), Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM), and Volkswagen Group (OTCMKTS:VLKAY), have taken advantage of the country’s low wages, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and a highly skilled workforce which have shown that it can produce quality cars.
“Over the next two to three years, we will have migrated all of our small-car production to Mexico and out of the United States,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields said at an investor conference in Dearborn. (Source: “Ford shifting all U.S. small-car production to Mexico,” Detroit Free Press, September 15, 2016.)
Ford’s plans to shift its small car production lines to Mexico comes following its April decision to invest $1.6 billion to build a new manufacturing site located in Mexico’s San Luis Potosi state. The new plant will create 2,800 additional direct jobs by 2020 and the construction on the plant was scheduled to start this summer.
Mexico is Ford’s fourth-largest vehicle production destination for serving its customers in the U.S., Canada, China, and South America markets. (Source: “Boosting Small Car Profitability, Ford Invests In New Plant,” Ford Motor Company, April 5, 2016.)
Though Fields didn’t specify which models the company will move to Mexico, a Ford spokesperson was cited in the media as saying that the production of its “Focus” and “C-Max” brands will be relocated to south of the border. (Source: “Ford moving all small car production to Mexico,” CNN, September 15, 2016.)
Ford’s plan to shift production to Mexico has sparked a new political debate in the U.S. Presidential election after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump responded to this potential move by saying that it will deprive the U.S. workers of employment opportunities.
“We shouldn’t allow it to happen. They’ll make their cars, they’ll employ thousands of people, not from this country, and they’ll sell their car across the border,” Trump said. “When we send our jobs out of Michigan, we’re also sending our tax base.” (Source: Ibid.)
Trump has been critical of the influx of Mexican immigrants into the U.S. in the past, having suggested building a wall at the border to stop illegal Mexican workers from entering the U.S.
