Donald Trump Thumps Ford Over $1.6B Assembly Plant in Mexico

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DEARBORN, MI – Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday that it will further expand its footprint in Mexico with a new $1.6 billion assembly plant in the state of San Luis Potosi to boost the profitability of its small cars.

The announcement, which the the Dearborn-based automaker made in a statement, wasn’t unexpected, nor is it without controversy.

For months, Republican presidential contender Donald Trump has singled out Ford’s plan to build an assembly plant in Mexico in his stump speeches, promising to slap a punitive 35 percent tariff on any Mexico-made cars entering the country if he’s elected president — though it’s unclear how he would do that.

Trump on Tuesday renewed his criticism of Ford, calling the plan "an absolute disgrace" in a statement released from his headquarters.

"These ridiculous, job crushing transactions will not happen when I am president," he said.

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders has criticized trade policies, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993, that allows U.S. manufacturers to move production to low-wage countries like Mexico.

Sanders took a swipe at Ford while campaigning in Michigan last month, saying its plans to build an assembly plant in Mexico would take away the jobs of hundreds autoworkers in Metro Detroit.

The United Auto Workers, which had pushed for higher wages in contract talks with Ford last fall, was swift to react to the announcement.

UAW President Dennis Williams said the plan illustrates how trade pacts like NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership hurt U.S. workers.

“Today’s announcement that Ford is investing in Mexico is a disappointment and very troubling,” Williams said in a statement. “For every investment in Mexico it means jobs that could have and should have been available right here in the USA. This is another example of what’s wrong with NAFTA and why the TPP would be a disaster for the citizens of the United States. Companies continue to run to low-wage countries and import back into the United States. This is a broken system that needs to be fixed.”

Ford already has a significant presence in Mexico.

Last year, the automaker announced plans to invest $2.5 billion in two new engine and transmission plants in Mexico, as well as expand production of its diesel engine line there.

Construction on the newly announced assembly plant will begin this summer on the new plant, which will create 2,800 additional direct jobs by 2020, Ford said.

Ford said that despite new production plant in Mexico, 80 percent of its North American vehicles were built in the United States last year, and that it built more cars and trucks domestically than any other U.S. automaker.

“The facts bear out that our investment in the U.S. continues to be substantial,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s President of the America, told The Detroit News. “The investments in Mexico are not having an offsetting effect in the U.S.; we’re not losing any jobs at Michigan Assembly Plant or southeast Michigan.”

Hinrichs told the Detroit Free Press that the investments in Mexico and elsewhere around the world help the automaker compete in a global market.

"We have to make decisions on a global scale because we compete globally," he said. "But let’s be clear: We are a proud American company and the majority of our investment happens here in the U.S."

Ford has invested $10.2 billion in the United States hired 25,000 U.S. workers over the past five years, Hinrichs told the Free Press.