U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to remove subsidies for General Motors in retaliation for the automaker slashing U.S. jobs and plants, and the automaker also took fire from Canadian political and labor leaders for cutbacks there.
“The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get! We are now looking at cutting all @GM subsidies, including … for electric cars,” Trump stated on Twitter.
Trump did not describe what “subsidies” he was talking about.
GM electric vehicles are qualified for a $7,500 tax credit under federal law, but it is unclear how the administration could limit those credits or if Trump was thinking of other subsidies.
Trump’s comments disturbed investors, who bid down GM shares by 2.6 percent on Tuesday after sending them up on Monday in reply to the automaker’s cost-cutting.
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked about “their disappointment in the announced closures of General Motors plants in their respective countries” in a phone call on Tuesday, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley stated.
The wrath of the leaders of the United States and Canada dramatized the obstacles GM and its Detroit rivals will deal with as they restructure to cope with the most dramatic technology and market changes in decades.
Trump has made boosting auto jobs a major priority during his almost two years in office and has often criticized automakers on Twitter for not doing enough to increase U.S. employment.
The Republican president on Tuesday escalated his criticism on GM’s plan to slash 15,000 jobs and mothball five North American factories, consisting of four in the United States. Among those four is a car factory in northeast Ohio, a state critical to victory in the 2020 presidential campaign.
GM stated after Trump’s comments that it was “committed to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence” in the United States after spending $22 billion in operations here since 2009 and will add new jobs in electrification and autonomous vehicles”.
The cuts will “position the company for long-term success and preserve and grow American jobs,” GM stated, adding that many workers at affected plants will be able to move to other GM factories.
GM Chief Executive Mary Barra talked to Trump over the weekend to talk about the cuts and was at the White House on Monday to meet with economic adviser Larry Kudlow.
