Toyota Motor on Tuesday stated it would add 400 jobs to develop more SUVs at one of its U.S. plants, highlighting its growth plans just as U.S. President Donald Trump gets in touch with automakers to construct more cars in the country.
The Japanese automaker stated the jobs became part of a $600 million upgrade of its plant located in Princeton, Indiana, and were consisted in its plans announced earlier this month to invest $10 billion in its U.S. operations over the next 5 years.
The announcement comes as Trump concentrates on protectionist trade policies throughout his administrations’ first week, including an official withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on Monday.
The president has formerly favored a 35 percent tariff on imported vehicles and vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada to encourage a “buy American and hire American” policy.
He has targeted automakers including Toyota Motor for producing vehicles in Mexico for export to the United States and on Tuesday also had breakfast with the CEOs of General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to talk about increasing U.S. employment.
Toyota in 2016 produced around 1.4 million automobiles in the United States, its largest market. It runs 10 factories in the nation, including the plant located in Indiana which new Vice President Mike Pence checked out while he was state governor.
The automaker also runs a pickup assembly plant located in Mexico, and is building a 2nd site in the nation, where it prepares to develop the Corolla sedan.
Previously this month, Trump in a tweet stated Toyota could be based on a “big border tax” if it proceeded with strategies to construct the Mexico plant, which the automaker announced in 2015. Toyota has stated its mid-term investment plans are not a response to Trump’s comments.
