Trump launches General Motors on its automobile factories in China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump, engaged in a trade war with Beijing, announced Friday that America's biggest automaker, General Motors Co (GM.N) should begin to transfer its operations to the United States.

"General Motors, which was once the giant of Detroit, is now one of the smallest car manufacturers in the country. They moved large factories to China, BEFORE I took office. This was done despite the salvific help provided by the United States. Now, they should start coming back to America? Trump said in a message posted on Twitter.

Trump seemed to be referring to a Bloomberg News article that says GM's hourly workforce of 46,000 US workers is smaller than Fiat Chrysler's (FCHA.MI) as the smallest of the three Detroit automakers. Over the past four decades, GM has significantly reduced the size of its American workforce, which stood at nearly 620,000 in 1979.

GM did not comment directly on Trump's tweet.

"GM's operations in China do not pose a threat to US jobs," said the company in an information bulletin, noting that its joint ventures had generated $ 16 billion in equity income since 2010 and that she had invested $ 23 billion in US operations since 2009.

GM's hourly workforce in the United States has declined by about 4,000 jobs since the end of 2018 to about its 10-year-old level.

Trump's anger with GM comes as contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers union with the Detroit (Detroit) Three automakers intensify before the 14 September deadline. Trump had previously attacked GM for building vehicles in Mexico and for putting an end to factory production in the states of Michigan, Ohio and Maryland.

GM's decision to close four plants in the United States is a central issue in the contract negotiations.

Trump has made strengthening automotive employment a top priority and has often attacked automakers on Twitter for not doing enough to boost employment in the United States. His bid for reelection for 2020 will depend on the holding of major industrial battlefield states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, who voted for him in 2016.

China is the largest auto market in the world, and government policy encourages automakers to assemble vehicles instead of importing them from abroad.

In response to Trump's latest tariffs, China announced last week its intention to restore tariffs by 25 percent on vehicles manufactured in the United States. The United States imposes tariffs of 15% on more than 125 billion dollars of Chinese products as of Sunday.

Last year, GM sold 3.6 million vehicles in China, accounting for 43% of its global sales. GM posted a net profit of $ 2 billion from its operations in China last year.

GM imports a small number of vehicles from China. In June, the Trump administration rejected GM's request to exempt the Chinese-made Buick Envision from a 25% US tariff on sport utility vehicles.

The mid-size SUV has become a target for US critics of products made in China, including the leaders of UAW members in key states such as Michigan and Ohio.