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According to reports, Ford Motor Company is preparing to begin major layoffs after suffering financial damage of at least $ 1 billion because of tariffs applied by President Donald Trump.
The biggest automaker in the country has not yet revealed how many workers would be affected. According to a report by Morgan Stanley, 12% of the 202,000 workers in the world could be fired, NBC reported.
The layoffs will focus on Ford's 70,000 white-collar workers as part of what the company calls a "redesign" of its staff as part of an ongoing $ 22.5 billion reorganization, according to NBC.
Trump's tariffs and the retaliatory tariffs they have triggered are weighing on the US auto industry.
Last month, Jim Hackett, CEO of Ford, told Bloomberg that the duties on imported aluminum and steel were hurting the company 's profits.
"From Ford's point of view, metal prices have generated for us a profit of about $ 1 billion," said Hackett. "The irony from which we derive the essential in the US If it goes on longer, it will do more damage."
The ongoing trade war should continue to hurt the bottom line of the company. Earlier this year, Trump said "trade wars are good and easy to win."
Ford announced a change earlier this year to produce almost exclusively SUVs and trucks. These vehicles continue to grow in popularity and are more profitable.
Its only passenger car will remain the popular Mustang, but production of the iconic brand could also be affected if profits continue to fall.
The automaker announced last month that it was considering selling its new Focus crossover vehicle in the United States. The Ford Focus Active is made in China. Due to new US tariffs on imported cars, it is no longer profitable for the company to sell it in the US, officials said.
"This is the first of many vehicles likely to disappear from the US market" because of the trade war, warned Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automotive Research Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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