Toyota Responds To Trump’s Latest Threats Against Their Company

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On Friday, in order to justify his latest trade tariffs, a proclamation was released by the White House in which Trump said that he agreed with a conclusion by the Department of Commerce that foreign cars and certain auto parts are a threat to national security. In the review, the department directly pointed to the decline of the market shares of American owned producers since the 1980s saying that foreign interests are at fault.

This is not the first time our so-called “president” has pulled a stunt like this either. In fact, around this time last year, he did almost exactly the same thing.

Watch:

But this time, Trump’s words are coming back to bite him, as one of the largest automakers in the world told Trump exactly where he could put his “proclamation” and his statement saying that they are not “welcome” in the United States. On Friday afternoon, Japanese auto-giant, Toyota, was quick to remind Trump just how important they really are to the U.S. economy.

According to Bloomberg:

‘In an unusually strong-worded statement, Japan’s largest automaker said Trump’s proclamation Friday that the U.S. needs to defend itself against foreign cars and components “sends a message to Toyota that our investments are not welcomed.” The company said it has spent more than $60 billion building operations in the country, including 10 manufacturing plants.

‘Toyota said it remains hopeful that those talks can be resolved quickly, but warned that curbing imports would force U.S. consumers to pay more and be counterproductive for jobs and the economy. The company’s critique comes two months after its pledge to add $3 billion to a years-long U.S. investment plan.’

Representatives from other automakers also voiced their concerns. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which is a group that represents some of the largest foreign and American automakers with interests in the United States said that they worry that “the President’s” strong message could put 700,000 American jobs in jeopardy:

‘We are deeply concerned that the administration continues to consider imposing auto tariffs.

‘By boosting car prices across the board and driving up car repair and maintenance costs, tariffs are essentially a massive tax on consumers.’

Toyota has continually made efforts to stave off threats by the White House. Just last year after previous threats mentioned above, Toyota vowed “a $10 billion, five-year investment plan. In August of that year, the company said it would join with Mazda Motor Corp. in building a $1.6 billion factory in Alabama.”

“Our operations and employees contribute significantly to the American way of life, the U.S. economy and are not a national security threat,” the company said.

So far, the White House has not responded to these latest statements by Toyota and other automakers. We will update as we receive more information.

Featured image via screenshot