BMW Chief Considering Additional Auto Plant Operations in U.S – IOTW Report

BMW Chief Considering Additional Auto Plant Operations in U.S

CTH- The issue is basic to the construct of the USMCA (NAFTA replacement).

BMW made a multi-billion-dollar investment in Mexico in anticipation of exploiting the NAFTA loophole.  President Trump has closed the loophole.  The new USMCA agreement requires 75% of automobile parts made in North America; and 45% must come from plants with minimum labor costs ($16/hr), or face tariffs upon export to the U.S.

As a result BMW is now considering opening those higher-wage component supply operations in the U.S.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – BMW (BMWG.DE) is considering a second U.S. manufacturing plant that could produce engines and transmissions, Chief Executive Harald Krueger said on Tuesday, shortly after a report that U.S. President Donald Trump would impose tariffs on imported cars from next week

[…] BMW is considering changes to U.S. operations as sales in the region grow, Krueger said. BMW has a U.S. vehicle assembly plant, in South Carolina, is planning to open a Mexico factory next year, and is considering changes to its current scheme of importing engines and transmissions.

“We’re at the range where you could think about a second location” in the United States, he said, adding that such a factory would provide a natural currency hedge. (more)

 

Oddly enough we predicted this likely move in August: […]  At the 30,000 ft level, the USMCA deal positions Mexico to retain their current multinational investments; and through a series of sector-by-sector standards on origination the deal simultaneously closes the fatal NAFTA loophole.  The agreement makes an economic manufacturing partnership between the U.S. and Mexico; and for assembly products third parties will have to produce parts and origination material within the U.S. and Mexico. more here

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