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General Motors is cutting thousands of jobs in North America. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, wants to save American factories. Now, it threatens the autogiant consequences.
US President Donald Trump has criticized General Motors (GM) for its mbadive job cuts and its threat of consequences. "You should very well open a new factory there," Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Monday for a plan to close the Ohio factory. During a conversation Sunday evening, he told GM's director, Mary Barra, that if the plant was permanently shut down, she would have a problem.
Trump also told the US financial newspaper that he had asked Barra to stop car production in China. GM should prefer to produce its vehicles in the United States. Trump told reporters in Washington that the United States had done a lot for GM and that they were able to exert a lot of pressure on the company.
"Position the company for long-term success"
The largest US automaker had announced a reduction in production in its domestic market, which would have led to a mbadive layoff of staff and the closure of part of the production. The main reasons are weakening sales of small cars in the United States and rising material costs. GM's director, Mary Barra, justified her decision with the need to adapt to changing market conditions.
It's about positioning the company for long-term success, Barra said in a press release. GM wants to abandon low-cost models and focus more on innovative areas such as electromobility and autonomous cars. For this, according to Barra, a radical restructuring of the company is necessary. In the United States and Canada, five manufacturing plants could be closed by the end of 2019. About 6,000 factory workers would then lose their jobs.
A worker at a General Motors plant in Ontario: the builder creates thousands of jobs in North America. (Source: Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press / Image Archive / AP / dpa)
Now, GM has announced plans to reduce its total workforce in North America by approximately 15%. A quarter of them are executive positions, which is supposed to simplify GM's decision-making process. The downsizing could affect between 10,000 and 15,000 employees, according to US media. Initially, it was unclear whether and to what extent employees were covered, to whom severance pay offers had already been made. The company was initially unavailable for more detailed explanations.
For US President Trump, layoffs are likely to be a major annoyance – he promised to help US industry make a big comeback and create more jobs than ever before for a president. American. However, the commercial disputes initiated under the "America's First" policy have so far also had significant negative consequences for US automakers such as GM and Ford: the industry's heavyweights are fighting over major processing products such as steel, with increased material costs due to punitive tariffs.
Trump threatens China with higher tariffs
Even in the trade dispute with China Trump continues to be tough. He added that existing tariffs on Chinese products, worth 200 to 25% against 10%, would be increased, said Trump in an interview published Monday by the "Wall Street Journal". It was "very unlikely" that he would bow to the request of the People's Republic and abstain from asking questions.
Trump and Chinese Prime Minister, Chinese President Xi Jinping, wish to hold four for an interview in light of Friday's meeting of the 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies (G20) in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. The Chinese government recently expressed optimism that the meeting could lead to a settlement of the trade dispute between the two countries.
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