The Wall Street Journal is reporting that U.S. automakers are seeking a workaround to avoid increased expenses resulting from President Donald Trump’s controversial tariff policy: relocating manufacturing to China.
“Four major automakers are racing to find workarounds to China’s stranglehold on rare-earth magnets, which they fear could force them to shut down some car production within weeks,” the Journal reports. “Several traditional and electric-vehicle makers—and their suppliers—are considering shifting some auto-parts manufacturing to China to avoid looming factory shutdowns, people familiar with the situation said.”
Auto parts, not whole vehicles. They need the factories in the US to keep selling in the US. If they move the factories out Trump will slap tariffs so high on them, they’d be unable to import, for the benefit of any company that’s kept its factories in the US. Most if not all US autos have Chinese vehicle factories already. Doesn’t change the fact that if some parts move to China, some US workers would lose their jobs and that’s the opposite of what General Taco says he wants.