MichAuto > Blog > Advocacy > Detroit Regional Chamber, Fain Criticize Trump Tariffs; List of Affected Automakers

Detroit Regional Chamber, Fain Criticize Trump Tariffs; List of Affected Automakers

February 3, 2025

Photo credit: Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press
Feb. 2, 2025

President Donald Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada and an added 10% duty on those from China starting Tuesday, demanding those countries stop the flow of fentanyl and the flow of immigrants in the case of Canada and Mexico, into the United States.

Around 90% of auto exports from both Mexico and Canada go to the U.S., according to the Mexican Automotive Manufacturers’ Association and the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association.

Detroit is at the epicenter of domestic impact, and the Detroit Regional Chamber and its MichAuto affiliate on Saturday evening said the tariffs “will have detrimental effects to our automotive industry in Michigan, the Great Lakes Region and across the continent.”

“Our economies are inextricably linked by manufacturing and many other critical industries,” Glenn Stevens Jr. the executive director of MichAuto said in a statement. “MichAuto and its constituents are concerned about the collateral damage that will be done to manufacturing, the impact it will have on Michiganders’ jobs, and the fact that the consumer will feel the increased cost of doing business in the prices they pay from vehicles in the showrooms to the grocery store.

“While the administration works to stem the flow of illicit drugs and illegal immigration, this should exclude the use of punitive tariffs, which are counterproductive to commerce,” the statement continued. “MichAuto urges that the proven tools at hand such as the reopening of the USMCA (trade agreement among the U.S., Mexico and Canada) and the direct input and involvement of our vital industry be utilized in a manner that does not stymie commerce and negatively impact companies and the consumer, but rather works toward solutions that preserve our strong trade partnerships and protect American jobs.”

UAW President Fain Reaction

UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement that Trump’s move was the wrong way to use tariffs.

“The UAW supports aggressive tariff action to protect American manufacturing jobs as a good first step to undoing decades of anti-worker trade policy,” the statement said. “We do not support using factory workers as pawns in a fight over immigration or drug policy. We are willing to support the Trump administration’s use of tariffs to stop plant closures and curb the power of corporations that pit U.S. workers against workers in other countries. But so far, Trump’s anti-worker policy at home, including dissolving collective bargaining agreements and gutting the National Labor Relations Board, leaves American workers facing worsening wages and working conditions even while the administration takes aggressive tariff action.

“If Trump is serious about bringing back good blue-collar jobs destroyed by NAFTA, the USMCA and the WTO, he should go a step further and immediately seek to renegotiate our broken trade deals,” Fain said.

Reuters provided this rundown of automakers that would be affected, in alphabetical order:

Audi

Volkswagen’s Audi plant in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico, makes the Q5, employing just over 5,000 people. It produced nearly 176,000 cars in 2023, its website showed. In the first half of 2024, nearly 40,000 were exported to the U.S., according to Mexico’s AMIA.

BMW

BMW’s plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, produces the 3 Series, 2 Series Coupe and M2, with nearly all output going to the U.S. and other markets worldwide, according to the carmaker. From 2027, it will produce the all-electric Neue Klasse model line.

Ford

Ford has three plants in Mexico: its Chihuahua engine plant, and two assembly plants in Cautitlan and Hermosillo.

It exported just under 196,000 cars from Mexico to North America in the first half of 2024, with 90% of vehicles going to the U.S., according to Mexico’s AMIA.

In Canada, it has an assembly plant in Oakville where it plans to produce a larger, gas-powered F-Series pickup truck from 2026.

Ford spokeswoman Robyn Jackson told the Free Press Sunday afternoon that the automaker “had nothing to add for now” on how the tariffs will impact the automaker, or if Ford’s leaders were having conversations with the Trump administration about ways to mitigate the impact of the tariffs.

In early January, at the Detroit Auto Show, the automaker’s Executive Chair Bill Ford told reporters that he got an unexpected call from then-President-elect Trump and the two had a lengthy conversation about the importance of manufacturing and the auto industry to the United States economy.

Ford said Trump is tuned into Ford’s concerns about the impact of tariffs on Mexico and Canada as well as if Trump were to rescind any tax incentives attached to the Inflation Reduction Act that have benefitted automakers. Ford said Trump indicated that he supports a strong American industry. He said Trump wants to work with the industry to strengthen it further.

CEO Jim Farley told the media at the auto show that his perception of the Trump administration is that it “is very focused on policy. They got elected because Americans want change, and they know exactly what they want to change: Tax, border, energy … and supporting companies like Ford. They’re very focused on taking action quickly.”

General Motors

GM imported roughly 750,000 vehicles from Canada or Mexico in 2024 to the U.S., with most manufactured in Mexico, according to business analytics firm GlobalData.

They include some of GM’s most popular vehicles, including the Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra full-sized pickups, and mid-sized SUVs.

GM’s Mexican plants also build two of its critical new electric vehicles, battery-powered versions of its Equinox and Blazer SUVs.

In Canada, GM operates three plants, producing electric vans, the Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty truck, and the V8 engine and dual-clutch transmission for shipment worldwide.

GM CFO Paul Jacobson said during a fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call last week that the automaker does have “a playbook” of plans it can tap in response to tariffs. He also said GM has tried to “take down some of our international inventory in Mexico and Canada and expedite shipments to the United States” before tariffs were put in place.

In her letter to shareholders, CEO Mary Barra said GM has been proactive by having conversations with Congress and the administration to stress the importance of a strong manufacturing sector and American leadership in advanced technologies.

“It’s clear that we share a lot of common ground, and we appreciate the dialogue,” Barra wrote.

In GM’s call with Wall Street analysts Tuesday, Barra said if tariffs are enacted, the company has several levers that it can pull.

“We build cars in Mexico, Canada and the United States,” Barra said. “We have the capacity in the United States to shift some of that. We also sell trucks globally, so we can look at those areas where we can mitigate some of that” impact from tariffs.

Honda

Honda Motor sends 80% of its Mexican output to the U.S. market. It warned on Nov. 6 that it would have to consider shifting production if the U.S. imposed permanent tariffs on Mexican imports.

Kia

South Korea’s Kia Corp. has a factory in Mexico that makes its own vehicles and some Santa Fe SUVs for its affiliate Hyundai Motor for export to the United States.

Mazda

Mazda exported around 120,000 vehicles from Mexico to the United States in 2023, but has said it may reconsider further investments if tariffs are imposed.