General Motors says US import tariffs could lead to fewer jobs
General Motors Company, America’s largest automobile manufacturer, has warned that higher tariffs on imported vehicles under consideration by the administration of President Donald Trump could cost US jobs while isolating American businesses from the global market.
In comments filed with the US Commerce Department on Friday, GM said that overly broad tariffs could “lead to a smaller GM, a reduced presence at home and abroad for this iconic American company, and risk less — not more — US jobs.”
Higher tariffs could also hike vehicle prices and reduce sales, GM said.
Its comments echoed those from two major US auto trade groups on Wednesday, when they warned that tariffs of up to 25 percent on imported vehicles would cost hundreds of thousands of auto jobs, dramatically raise prices on vehicles and threaten industry spending on self-driving cars.
GM operates 47 US manufacturing facilities and employs about 110,000 people in the United States. It buys tens of billions of dollars worth of parts from US suppliers every year, and has invested over $22 billion in US manufacturing operations since 2009.
Still, 30 percent of the vehicles GM sold on the US market in 2017 were manufactured abroad, according to the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research. Some 86 percent of those vehicles came from Canada and Mexico, while others came from Europe and China.
The other two US automakers, Ford Motor Company and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, also import many of the vehicles they sell in the United States.
The Trump administration in May launched an investigation into whether imported vehicles pose a national security threat, and Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose a 20 percent vehicle import tariff.
Some White House aides have said that Trump is pursuing the national security probe to put pressure on Canada and Mexico to agree to concessions in talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Trump said Wednesday that the era of “global freeloading” of the United States is over, accusing the European Union of taking advantage of America in trade.
Trump said the US lost over $150 billion on trade with the EU last year.
The EU on Friday imposed a range of tariffs on American goods worth $3.3 billion in a tit-for-tat response to Trump's decision to apply stiff tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports.
In response, Trump threatened on Twitter to slap a 20 percent tariff on European car imports, heightening worries of a trade war which could dent growth on both sides of the Atlantic.
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