General Motors came out swinging Friday against President Trump’s proposed tariffs on foreign automobiles, saying they risked weakening the company’s global competitiveness and would lead to job cuts at home and abroad.
In comments filed with the Commerce Department, which is evaluating whether auto imports threaten U.S. national security as the president has suggested, GM said the new tariffs would hurt the economy.
Trump’s proposal “risks undermining GM’s competitiveness against foreign auto producers by erecting broad brush trade barriers that increase our global costs” and could invite retaliation by U.S. trading partners, the automaker said.
The company’s blunt statement underscores the increasing frustration among American multinational corporations, which fear the president’s “America First” trade policy ignores the realities of a global economy.
“The overbroad and steep application of import tariffs on our trading partners risks isolating U.S. businesses like GM from the global market that helps to preserve and grow our strength here at home,” the company said.
Consumers “at some point” will feel the impact of Trump’s tariffs in higher prices for passenger cars and auto parts.
The per-vehicle increase of several thousand dollars will hit “customers who can least afford” the higher costs, the company warned.
If the company instead absorbed the tariff, it would reduce hiring, investment and wages, according to the filing.
GM has 47 manufacturing sites and 25 service-part facilities in the U.S., where it employs around 110,000 people. Since the 2009 depths of the Great Recession, the company has invested more than $22 billion in its American factories, it said.
Instead of additional tariffs, the administration should concentrate on reaching agreement with Mexico and Canada on a modernized North American trade deal, GM said.
Those NAFTA negotiations, which began last August, have stalled.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, called Trump’s push for auto tariffs “deeply misguided.”
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.