Automakers, Dependent on Mexico, Face a Rougher Road with Trump (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader shares a Reuters report: The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president puts new pressure on automakers and other manufacturers that have become dependent on open trade with Mexico, and raises the risk they will face higher costs. Automakers could also take a hit if instability in financial markets undercuts the confidence of consumers in the United States and other major markets at a time when growth in U.S. auto sales has stalled. Investors sold off U.S. stocks and the dollar in reaction to Trump's unexpected win. Shares in Japanese automakers, which also rely on Mexico as a production hub for the U.S. market, slid as well, underperforming the benchmark Nikkei index, which fell 5 In afternoon Tokyo trade, shares in Toyota Motor Corp were down 6.5 pct, Nissan Motor Co Ltd was down 6.0 pct, while Honda Motor Co fell 7.8 pct. U.S. manufacturing groups and companies on Wednesday said they want to work with the new administration.

Comments

It was bound to happen.

[BarbaraHudson]

There will certainly be a rejigging of trade. It's not fair trade when it becomes a race to the bottom for workers.

Re:It was bound to happen.

[CRCulver]

If companies are limited in what they can import from cheap-labour countries, then they can just bring the manufacturing here and automate the hell out of it so that labour costs are minimal. "Rejigging of trade" need not equate to a significantly higher standard of living for Americans in those particular state. I found this recent election interesting because of two things that were not talked about my the candidates. One was any kind of awareness that automation is changing . Both candidates uttered similar promises of job growth, and Trump offered bringing factories back as an employment panacea, as if this were 1986 and not 2016. Perhaps both candidates thought that offered a longterm vision would just cost them support when so many voters wanted comforting and nostalghia instead of a sober look at the future. (The other was religion. In previous elections, at least one if not both major-party candidates had to position themselves as men of faith, show they were well-known to a particular local congregation, etc. This time, neither Clinton nor Trump even bothered making a pretence of that. Just goes to show how religious observance in the US has dwindled, even if evangelicals are still a major voting bloc and, bizarrely, were often more pro-Trump than anti-Clinton.)

No, not all automakers will take that hit

[WindBourne]

Tesla is made in America and while they import parts, they are in the process of bringing that all in-house, or least their manufacturing to California.