Pressing his pledge to bring jobs to America and discourage the car industry from investing in Mexico, U.S. President Donald Trump urged the chief executives of the Big Three U.S. automakers to build more cars in the country.
In a meeting at the White House with General Motors Co CEO Mary Barra, Ford Motor Co's Mark Fields and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Sergio Marchionne, Trump said he wanted to see more auto plants in the United States. Trump had earlier threatened to impose 35 percent tariffs on imported vehicles.
To make it more attractive for businesses to operate in the United States, the new Republican president has vowed to cut regulations and taxes in return. During the election campaign he had promised that he would be creating a lot of jobs then he stressed that message in his inaugural address.
"We have a very big push on to have auto plants and other plants - many other plants," he told reporters at the start of the meeting. "It's happening. It’s happening big league."
Trump asked what his administration could do "on domestic and trade policy that would help make the United States more competitive and strengthen the ability of automakers to add production here.", said Matt Blunt, who heads a U.S. automaker trade association and attended the meeting.
Trump has repeatedly pressured automakers and other manufacturers to "buy American and hire American" and the hour-long meeting was the latest sign of Trump's uncommon degree of intervention for a U.S. president into corporate affairs.
Since a 2011 session with Barack Obama to tout a deal to nearly double fuel efficiency standards by 2025, it was the first time the heads of the big three automakers met jointly with a U.S. president. Those aggressive mandates have been requested to be rethought by the Trump administration.
issue of the fuel efficiency rules, trade policy and other regulatory matters were aised ny the auto executives. Trump did not give them specifics on what regulations he would cut, Marchionne told reporters afterward.
Trump asked about advanced vehicles and the companies also discussed autonomous and electric vehicles.
U.S. automakers have been reluctant to open new U.S. auto plants in recent years with flattening U.S. auto sales and excess capacity in the United States. While Fiat Chrysler opened a new transmission plant in Indiana in 2014, GM and Ford last built new U.S. assembly plants in 2004.
After suffering in the 1990s and 2000s from overcapacity and shifts in market share, automakers still had excess capacity in North America, Kristin Dziczek, an analyst at the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research, said.
Experts said that costing at least $1 billion, building a new plant would take three or more years.
To meet rising demand for trucks and SUVs, automakers have expanded operations at existing U.S. New U.S. jobs and investments in recent weeks have been announced by GM, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and foreign automakers.
Aiming to boost production of a popular SUV by 10 percent, Toyota Motor Corp said it would add 400 jobs and invest $600 million in an Indiana plant.
(Source:www.reutrs.com)
In a meeting at the White House with General Motors Co CEO Mary Barra, Ford Motor Co's Mark Fields and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Sergio Marchionne, Trump said he wanted to see more auto plants in the United States. Trump had earlier threatened to impose 35 percent tariffs on imported vehicles.
To make it more attractive for businesses to operate in the United States, the new Republican president has vowed to cut regulations and taxes in return. During the election campaign he had promised that he would be creating a lot of jobs then he stressed that message in his inaugural address.
"We have a very big push on to have auto plants and other plants - many other plants," he told reporters at the start of the meeting. "It's happening. It’s happening big league."
Trump asked what his administration could do "on domestic and trade policy that would help make the United States more competitive and strengthen the ability of automakers to add production here.", said Matt Blunt, who heads a U.S. automaker trade association and attended the meeting.
Trump has repeatedly pressured automakers and other manufacturers to "buy American and hire American" and the hour-long meeting was the latest sign of Trump's uncommon degree of intervention for a U.S. president into corporate affairs.
Since a 2011 session with Barack Obama to tout a deal to nearly double fuel efficiency standards by 2025, it was the first time the heads of the big three automakers met jointly with a U.S. president. Those aggressive mandates have been requested to be rethought by the Trump administration.
issue of the fuel efficiency rules, trade policy and other regulatory matters were aised ny the auto executives. Trump did not give them specifics on what regulations he would cut, Marchionne told reporters afterward.
Trump asked about advanced vehicles and the companies also discussed autonomous and electric vehicles.
U.S. automakers have been reluctant to open new U.S. auto plants in recent years with flattening U.S. auto sales and excess capacity in the United States. While Fiat Chrysler opened a new transmission plant in Indiana in 2014, GM and Ford last built new U.S. assembly plants in 2004.
After suffering in the 1990s and 2000s from overcapacity and shifts in market share, automakers still had excess capacity in North America, Kristin Dziczek, an analyst at the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research, said.
Experts said that costing at least $1 billion, building a new plant would take three or more years.
To meet rising demand for trucks and SUVs, automakers have expanded operations at existing U.S. New U.S. jobs and investments in recent weeks have been announced by GM, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and foreign automakers.
Aiming to boost production of a popular SUV by 10 percent, Toyota Motor Corp said it would add 400 jobs and invest $600 million in an Indiana plant.
(Source:www.reutrs.com)