Ford, United Auto Workers and Facts Dispute Donald Trump's Claims About Michigan's Demise in Debate

If you watched Monday night’s presidential debate and didn’t follow along on social media, you might have gotten the idea that Michigan is in dire straits.

In his opening salvo, Donald Trump said, "So, Ford is leaving — thousands of jobs. You see that, their small-car division leaving. Leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio. They are all leaving." Earlier, Trump said Ford would “fire all of their employees in the United States.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics paints a far different picture:

• Michigan leads the nation in creating manufacturing jobs, posting a net gain of 167,500 jobs.
• The state’s unemployment rate is lower than the national average.
• Detroit’s automakers are doing better than any time since the 1960s.

Ford CEO Mark Fields has said that while production of the compact Focus and hybrid models is moving to Mexico in 2018, the Wayne plant workers will still have plenty to do, shifting their focus to other products. “Zero” jobs will be lost in the U.S., Fields says.

Ford and United Auto Workers both responded in real time during the debate, without mentioning Trump specifically, rebutting several of his assertions.

"Ford has more hourly employees and produces more vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker," the automaker tweeted, with a graphic that showed 28,000 U.S. jobs produced in America in the past five years. The UAW tweeted a "fact check" that said: "Ford is not moving jobs out of Michigan. Our agreement secures future product commitments for affected plants." Ford employs 85,000 U.S. workers.

Trump has singled out Ford in the past, though the manufacturer isn’t alone in offshore manufacturing, and has assailed the three-year plan to completely migrate small-car production out of the United States as an “absolute disgrace.”

Trump has also announced tariffs on products manufactured elsewhere. “When that car comes back across the border into our country that now comes in free, we’re going to charge them a 35 percent tax,” he said. “And you know what’s going to happen? They’re never going to leave.”

Photo by Ford Motor Company