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Monday, March 18, 2024

Automobile manufacturing - and "a bloodbath."

A Trump campaign statement in Ohio has had a part taken out of context by some media outlets, but the story is bigger than hostile rhetoric - including hostility toward some foreign goods.

Breitbart quotes Trump at a rally for a MAGA Ohio U.S. Senate candidate vs. a plain Romney-style Republican:

 If you’re listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends — but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now … you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us, no. We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected.

Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it […] It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.

Fear-mongering trade-war rhetoric, together with a bullshit Breitbart photo:

A "bonespurs" salute

In context, it appears not a threat of a newer, bigger Jan. 6, rather trade-war redux.

Aspects of a bigger story, Chinese car plants in Mexico, what's happening?

Back in November, 2022, news was already keen about motoring growth to the south:

During the first six months of 2022, Chinese carmakers like MG, Chirey, and JAC Motors have increased their sales in Mexico by 200% compared to 2021, according to the Mexican Association of Automotive Dealers (AMDA). The spike is happening as non-Chinese carmakers manufacturing in Mexico — like BMW, Volkswagen, and General Motors — are struggling to get their hands on semiconductors to keep producing vehicles, both for export and the local market. Talking to car dealership managers, customers, and employees from the auto industry, Rest of World found that Chinese carmakers are seizing the opportunity provided by the semiconductor crisis to start selling to a consumer base that has long been buying cars from elsewhere.

“Mexico is one of the largest car producers in the world,” André Oliveira, business consulting partner for Sintec, a consulting firm specializing in the automotive, IT, and manufacturing businesses, told Rest of World. “However, it doesn’t have chip factories and depends on imports, mainly from Asian countries.” AMDA added that installing a semiconductor factory in Mexico takes at least three years.

The global semiconductor supply shortage stalled much of the production in the Mexican auto industry in 2020, when it had a yearly 20% slump in production and exports. It’s now on the path to recovering to 2019 levels, but the global chip shortage hasn’t normalized yet. Vehicle production was down 13% in 2022’s first quarter, compared to the same period in 2021, according to the National Auto Parts Industry. Data from JD Power Mexico, a consumer research firm, shows that in 2021, about half a million cars weren’t produced in Mexico due to the shortage — 150,000 of which would have been sold domestically. 

“We foresee this situation will keep affecting our supply until mid-2023,” a representative for General Motors in Mexico told Rest of World. [...]

Meanwhile, newly arrived Chinese brands like Chirey or Changan have fully equipped cars available on demand. The fact that these cars are not produced in Mexico is why they’re available for sale in the country: “The Chinese supply chain favors companies whose production lines are fully integrated into the Chinese economy,” [Mexican manufacturer] Galván told Rest of World. A Volkswagen employee who asked to remain anonymous because he’s not authorized to speak for the company also told Rest of World that while European and American carmakers in Mexico are struggling getting car parts from China, Chinese companies have cars and are getting them into Mexico without a problem.

Oliveira broadly agreed, noting that it was access to semiconductors specifically which gave Chinese automakers an edge. “JAC has been assembling cars in Mexico since 2017, but its larger degree of integration with JAC China could indicate the company’s broader access to chips,” he said. 

According to Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography, INEGI, China’s MG sold almost 4,800 cars in October while companies like Volkswagen — which has long built cars in the country — sold 1,738. In October 2020, Volkswagen sold 3,707 units while MG sold 20.

The sudden availability of these brands in the market could be changing Mexican consumers’ perceptions about Chinese cars. “Many mass market Chinese products were previously known to be of low quality,” Oliviera said. “Broader penetration and acceptance of Chinese cars may help change the consumer’s perception.”

[...]

So, Chinese factories in Mexico are gaining market share --- IN MEXICO.

Detroit News, today, reports: Trump threatens 100% tariffs on Mexican-made cars by China companies - by Gadriana Lowenkron - Bloomberg News

Former President Donald Trump said he would hit cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies with a 100% tariff, double the levy he has previously said he would put on automobiles made south of the U.S. border.

Trump addressed Chinese President Xi Jinping directly during a rally speech in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday when threatening the tariffs.

“Those big monster car manufacturing plants you are building in Mexico right now and you think you are going to get that — not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the car to us, no,” Trump said. “We are going to put a 100% tariff on every car that comes across the lot.”

Trump continued by saying it would be a “bloodbath” if he didn’t win this year’s U.S. presidential election.

Earlier this month Trump threatened a 50% tariff on Chinese cars. He has also proposed tariffs of as much as 60% on all Chinese goods and 10% on goods made anywhere in the world. He said he’s not worried about retaliatory measures from China or other countries.

“You screw us and we’ll screw you,” he said. “It’s very simple, very fair.”

As president, Trump focused heavily on the idea that the U.S. was being ripped off by bad trade deals and cheating, embarking in 2018 on a trade war with China that saw round after round of escalation as the two countries enacted tariffs on each other's products.

Trump's most significant actions on trade included the trade war with China; broad implementation of tariffs; replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement; and exiting the multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement negotiated under President Barack Obama.

International trade and automotive industry experts at the time, however, said the Trump administration's signature trade policies did little to bring back U.S. manufacturing jobs and achieve his goal of balancing the trade deficit. Indeed, the U.S. trade deficit was higher in 2020, at $678.7 billion than it was when Trump took office — $502.3 billion. It rose further during the Biden presidency, ending 2023 at $773.4 billion.

The trade deficit with China, however, dropped from $347 billion when Trump took office to $308 billion in 2020. Though it rose again in the first years of the Biden administration, it fell to $280 billion at the end of 2023.

In Michigan, manufacturing employment stood at 617,100 when Trump took office in January 2017, according to federal data. It peaked at 634,200 in December 2018, but by December 2020, manufacturing jobs declined to 580,000 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2024, it had rebounded to 609,000.

Trump's proposed 100% tariff levied on the price of a Chinese automakers' vehicles assembled in Mexico escalates threats the former president made on Feb. 27 during Michigan's presidential primary, which he handily won.

"I'm going to put tariffs so that we're going to make the cars in this country, not China and all of these other countries," Trump told WFDF-AM (910) Superstation host Justin Barclay on the morning of the primary.

[...] In recent weeks, Biden and one of his top surrogates, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, have been clashing with Trump on manufacturing policy. Biden has highlighted the UAW's gains following a six-week strike of General Motors, Stellantis and Ford Motor Co. last fall, while Trump has turned his attention to Chinese automakers investing in Mexican plants.

More:Biden touts deal to reopen idled Stellantis plant in State of the Union address

More:UAW president, Trump clash over future of auto industry

Trump, despite facing four criminal cases, has only tightened his grip on the GOP in his third White House run. The Republican National Committee is now helmed by three close allies, including his daughter in-law Lara Trump as co-chair. The shakeup saw more than 60 staffers fired on Monday.

Trump’s rally on Saturday took him to a once-traditional swing state where his populist message brought him easy victories in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

This year, Ohio also hosts a Senate race that will be critical to Democratic hopes of retaining control of the chamber. Republicans face a three-way contest in the state’s March 19 primary for a candidate to take on Democrat Sherrod Brown in the general election.

Trump has endorsed tech executive Bernie Moreno for the Senate seat, putting him at odds with Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who has backed Matt Dolan, a moderate who didn’t seek Trump’s support. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is also running.

Moreno, who attended Saturday’s rally, called Trump a “great American.” Trump also took a swipe at Dolan, calling him “the next Mitt Romney” and claiming he is embracing “woke left lunatics.”

The Detroit News contributed.

So, Trump works his Ohio base. Aside from that, the major question apparently not being resolved by mainstream media, are Chinese vehicles manufactured in Mexico for the Mexican market alone, or will there be attempts to import them into the U.S. in significant numbers? (So far, have you seen any irregular brand names on cars in traffic where you drive?) 

Does the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement which replaced NAFTA say anything to the issue?

A few returned items, (without Crabgrass following links), from: search = chinese auto factories in mexico


  1. Jul 3, 2023The new factory in Mexico presents a choice to Chinese auto suppliers servicing Tesla's Shanghai plant — move to Mexico, too, or risk losing orders worth hundreds of million of dollars. ... As such, Mexico's imports of Chinese auto parts grew over 30% from 2020-2022, feeding into Chinese production in Mexico, while imports of motor ...
  2. Apr 3, 2023Chinese automaker Jetou r announced it will build a $3 billion automotive plant in Mexico by the end of 2024, with the aim of manufacturing electric and gasoline-powered cars for the North American market. As part of its investment in Mexico, Jetour is partnering with LDR Solutions Co., a conglomerate of Chinese automotive companies doing ...

 One thing which readers should grasp is that China has a lead in litiium battery production over the remainder of world manufacturers.

As the U.S. moves to electric cars, (with fossil fuel geeks dug in and howling), an interesting thing is the Tesla charging plug adoption broadly happening in the U.S. while auto makers are abandoning (with adapter technology available during the cut-over, including imports from Europe) an otherwise international  standard charger design. 

One may wonder, is the Tesla charging love-fest solely an acknowledgement of Tesla charging station dominance in our nation, or might it in part be intended to indirectly raise an impediment to imports not so configured? That might be a dimension of the "Tesla charging plug embrace" which is under-reported by U.S. media.

Keeping petroleum reserves worldwide for petrochemical uses, conserving that way, makes sense as a global climate change measure, as well as a geopolitical shift from energy sourcing via Russia and the Middle East, for Europe and us. 

In our hemisphere, Mexico and Venezuela have sufficient reserves to meet foreseeable ongoing petrochemical needs as our nation's automobiles become cleaner, ideally fewer, and electric. 

It will happen. Timeframe is the only elastic part of the policy. [UPDATE: Also elastic, nation of origin - tariff policy - commute times - parking meter price surges.]

UPDATE - A month ago Fortune, per the first listed search return-item listed above, led with this Getty image captioned, "BYD EVs waiting to be loaded onto a ship this month in China."