Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Ford cancels plan for new plant in Mexico after criticism from Trump – ElTiempo.com

The automotive Ford announced on Tuesday that it decided to cancel a plan by $ 1,600 million to build a new plant in Mexico, after receiving criticisms of the president-elect Donald Trump. The announcement of the auto giant happens at times that Trump increases the pressures on large u.s. companies to bring back to the country of their production plants or assembly and help create jobs.

Second largest automotive group in the united States, Ford seems to have clearly understood the message and announced that it had backtracked on its plans to open a new plant in Mexico, which would create over 2,800 jobs.

“Ford announced that it canceled the plans for the new plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico,” reported the signing in a press release, in reference to a project that would cost approximately $ 1,600 million and which had been announced in April of 2016.

The competitor General Motors was the subject Tuesday of the criticism (via Twitter) of Trump, who threatened to transnational with heavy taxes on the importation of their vehicles produced abroad, especially in Mexico.

(Also: Computer Trump seeks records on barriers and border surveillance)

“General Motors is sending its model Chevy Cruze, made in Mexico, to the united States without paying taxes when crossing the border. íHáganlo in the united States or to pay a high rate of frontier!”, said the president-elect. In the meantime, the ministry of Economy of Mexico issued an official note where it “regretted” the decision of Ford, and said that the company must pay any investment that the mexican government has done to facilitate the construction of the plant.

also, Jaime Chalita Zarur, president of the Employers ‘ Confederation, in San Luis Potosí, said to a local channel that it is a “bad news” for the state, and that now there must be a compensation for “breach of contract”.

Ford announced that the decision involves the addition of 700 jobs and investments by $ 700 million within a period of four years to expand its plant in Flat Rock, Michigan (north of US), for the production of electric cars and driverless.

“more positive Atmosphere”

Michigan is a state brutally beaten by the flight of industrial plants abroad, and where Trump won a victory pivotal in the elections of last November. the however, Ford will keep a part of your program of transfer of production to Mexico: your model Focus will be produced at an existing plant in Hermosillo (in northwest Mexico), in place of the new plant which had been planned for San Luis Potosi.

With this, the firm will create conditions at the plant in Wayne, Michigan, where the Focus was being produced, to focus on new products. The executive director of Ford, Mark Fields, told CNN that the company analyzed all the factors before taking a decision, “including that which we see as a more positive environment to manufacture under the president-elect Donald Trump”.

But he noted that the company “did not do a deal with Trump”. the “What we did for our business”, he added. Fields said that the director of the company, Bill Ford, spoke with Trump in the morning of this Tuesday. “it Is literally a vote of confidence in some of the policies that has been designing and is the reason why we made this decision to invest here, in the united States, and in our plant in Michigan,” said Fields.

Fields said that the decision to focus on electric automobiles is part of the commitment already expressed by the signature of invest 4,500 million dollars in developing that type of vehicle. “Our view is that the electrification is going to grow. We want to be leaders on that,” he said.

By your side, GM responded to Trump, emphasizing in a statement that the vast majority of their vehicle model Cruze sold in the united States are manufactured in the state of Ohio, and only a few are imported from Mexico.

The automotive are responding to the aggressive style of Trump, who during the campaign promised to impose 35% tariffs on cars produced in Mexico, and to undo the Treaty of Free Trade with Canada and Mexico.

AFP

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