Trump looks into tariffs on car imports
- by Claude Bryan
- in Markets
- — Nov 30, 2018
Trump has threatened to eliminate all federal subsidies to GM in response to the company's planned closure of five plants and the elimination of 14,000 jobs in North America.
President Donald Trump is not happy with that decision. Ford said it will cut jobs, Toyota is threatening to and BMW's exports have slumped.
Or at least, it would be problematic if GM received federal subsidies.
General Motors announcement of their Lordstown plant closing has been the topic of discussion between Ohio's senators.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress and union leaders are also pressuring the company to keep the plant running, in what's now a high-stakes decision for all involved, not just for the workers and the battered Rust Belt community nervously watching.
That followed several Tuesday presidential tweets, which the White House has said are official policy statements, saying he is "Very disappointed" with GM for ceasing work at facilities in those states but "Nothing being closed in Mexico & China".
After Khashoggi, Saudi prince looks to rebuild image overseas
In a previous statement, Graham also said that the Crown Prince is "toxic" to U.S. - Saudi relations. Lee said the war in Yemen is "unauthorized" and "unconstitutional" from the US standpoint.
There are many anonymous Twitter accounts that post inaccurate information in support of Trump, but "The_Trump_Train" made quite an impact within the White House on Wednesday.
Trudeau and Trump - who have been at loggerheads for months - are expected to meet at the G20 summit in Argentina at the end of the week. Thus far, the president has signaled an unwillingness to compromise on US demands of Beijing, but analysts have suggested he'll need a deal for a political and economic win. GM will stop production at the Lordstown, Ohio, and Hamtramck, Mich., assembly plants. The plant already employs 10,000 workers.
Keeping open a plant slated for closure is not without precedent for GM. Some workers transferred to a plant in Tennessee, while others took buyouts or retired, but there are still almost 700 in the area on layoff. "GM pocketed the tax break we gave them and are closing up shop anyway, with nary a word from the president until after the fact", Schumer said.
"The goal of Treasury's investment in GM was never to make a profit, but to help save the American auto industry, and by any measure that effort was successful", Treasury Department spokesman Adam Hodge said at the time. "They say the Chevrolet Cruze is not selling well". He said it was evidence that steel jobs were returning to America because of tariffs he imposed on steel imports.
Despite the job growth in recent years, auto companies employ far fewer workers than they did in 2000. "We are now looking at cutting all @GM subsidies, including.for electric cars", he wrote in two Tuesday afternoon tweets.
It's not clear precisely what action against GM might be taken, or when, and there are questions about whether the president has the authority to act without congressional approval. But while the U.S., Canada and Mexico are set to sign an updated trade deal on Friday, negotiations with China have shown little progress. "In my opinion and the opinion of people all over, GM has an obligation to invest back in us", Rankin said. "I don't want to move".
