Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, isn’t letting Donald Trump change her company’s plans.
Speaking to reporters at a GM event in Detroit, Barra said GM’s small-car production will stay in Mexico, since manufacturing and plant investments are not easily changed, the Wall Street Journal reports. “This is a long-lead business with highly capital-intensive investments—decisions that were made two, three and four years ago,” Barra said.
Barra’s comments come after the President-elect threatened the company with a “big border tax” for importing some Chevrolet Cruze compact cars from a plant in Mexico. But those models represent less than 5% of the Cruze cars sold in the U.S. The rest are manufactured at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio, factory.
General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
As for the potential impact of any border tax Trump may impose, Barra told reporters at the event that it was “way too early to speculate,” the Journal reports, adding that GM has “much more in common” with Trump’s economic views than it has differences.
“I want to be part of the solution that allows the country to be strengthened along with business,” she said.
GM is not the only motor company that has faced criticism from the President-elect. Trump has also knocked Toyota for its Mexican production plans, which the company responded to on Twitter. And Trump has threatened the German auto-maker BMW with steeper import taxes for opening a plant in Mexico, but the company reaffirmed its commitment to the plan.
On the other hand, Ford (F) has cancelled its plan to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico in favor a facility in Michigan—though it said the decision was not a result of Trump’s pressure.