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Tag: production

Nissan could ditch some Mexico production lines due to Trump tariffs, CEO says

MonetaryMacro.com CIO Joseph Wang argues President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico are more than just a negotiating tactic on ‘Making Money.’

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida suggested President Trump’s tariffs could force the car manufacturer to shift its production outside of Mexico.

“From Mexico to the U.S., we are exporting a significant number of cars this fiscal year[…] 320,000 units are exported from Mexico to the U.S., and if the high tariffs are imposed, we need to be ready for this, and maybe we can transfer the production of these models elsewhere if this were the decision, we will think how we can make it a reality while monitoring the situation,” Uchida said, according to a translation on Reuters.

The move could be a major blow to Mexico’s auto production sector, as nearly 670,000 vehicles were made by Nissan in the country last year, with over 456,000 of those being exported, according to the Spanish-language UnoTV.

The outlet said Nissan ranks second in Mexico for those metrics after General Motors.

WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIST SAYS RECIPROCAL TARIFF NEGOTIATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES UNDERWAY

White House counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro detailed the “most potent weapons” Trump has against inflation, on “Mornings with Maria.” (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

“We are exporting a large volume to U.S., so if there’s a high tariff, this would have huge implications on our business, so we need to monitor this carefully.”

Trump’s 25% tariffs on Mexico are currently on hold until at least March following a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Trump has argued that the primary goal of tariffs on the United States’ southern neighbor is to promote border security.

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview at the company’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, on Nov. 29, 2021. (Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

“It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country,” Trump said in a Truth Social post after the conversation with Sheinbaum, as critics argued that Mexico has sent in border troops multiple times in previous years.

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON CHINA, CANADA AND MEXICO?

Still, Trump said that conversations between the two countries will now be conducted by Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to the post at the time.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed global trade and Trump’s tariff plans on “Mornings with Maria” Friday. (Paul Morigi / Getty Images)

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However, the possibility of tariffs resuming is causing popular companies in the United States, like Nissan, to consider actions to avoid higher costs if their production lines are based out of Mexico, China or Canada. Besides the tariffs with Mexico, the White House announced there would be reciprocal tariffs on countries that add a premium to the cost of American goods.

“By making trade more reciprocal and balanced, we can reduce the trade deficit; grow the United States economy; and improve our trade relationships with trading partners to the benefit of American workers, manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses,” Trump said in a memorandum on Thursday.

February 16, 2025
Chinese companies shore up US-based production to avoid Trump trade crackdown

Rockwell Automation CEO Blake Moret explains how tariffs will be a ‘net positive’ for U.S. automation on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

Chinese companies are shoring up their U.S.-based production and warehouses to evade the Trump administration’s crackdown on Communist Party of China (CCP) imports.

Fashion brand Temu is pushing its locally made products after the Trump administration put an end to a lucrative trade loophole that allowed Chinese fast fashion and low-cost goods to make their way into the U.S. and evade tax enforcement.

Temu is now promoting items stored in its U.S. warehouses under its “lightning deals” section and a “local warehouse” section on its website.

The Trump administration ended an exemption known as “de minimus,” which allowed goods valued less than $800 to enter the U.S. without paying duties.

CHINA RESPONDS WITH TARIFFS ON US GOODS AFTER TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON CHINESE IMPORTS TAKE EFFECT

Fashion brand Temu is pushing its locally made products after the Trump administration cracked down on a lucrative trade loophole. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images/File)

The de minimus rule helped Temu offer the U.S. suspiciously low-cost goods like $5 sneakers and $6 knockoff AirPods.

Singapore-based, China-founded fast fashion brand Shein has adopted a similar strategy, and it now has a growing U.S.-based workforce of 1,500 and is increasingly relying on warehouses in California and Indiana.

This month, Shein opened a Seattle hub for U.S. fulfillment and logistics operations as it seeks to localize deliveries.

Meanwhile, Chinese quartz company Sunfat Marble and Granite put out a pro-Trump news release promising “intentions for a historic investment into America, with a commitment to create tens of thousand (sic) new American jobs, including construction of new manufacturing facilities across the heartland of the U.S., with an investment totaling $250 million.”

“With President Trump in power, we’re more excited than ever to commit to the United States,” the company said in a release seen by Fox Business.

“We understand Americans are skeptical of Chinese companies and concerned about foreign investment. It’s why we are also announcing a commitment to only hire American workers. There will be no H1-B visas. There will be no undercutting of American wages.”

CHINA-LINKED FIRM GETS E-ZPASS CONTRACT IN NEW JERSEY, FORMER SENATOR CALLS IT ‘WORSE’ THAN TIKTOK

China’s CATL may look to build a plant in the U.S. (REUTERS/Jake Spring/File)

On Monday, Trump slapped 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, which came one week after Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods.

CATL, the world’s top battery maker, has said it will consider building a U.S. plant if Trump opens the door to Chinese investment in the American electric vehicle supply chain.

“Originally, when we wanted to invest in the U.S., the U.S. government said no,” CATL founder Robin Zeng told Reuters. “For me, I’m really open-minded.”

China’s EV and battery firms are heavily subsidized by the CCP and face some of the steepest trade restrictions due to competition and national security concerns. Chinese EV imports are slapped with a 100% tariff, an effective ban.

Trump says Xi Jinping, China’s president, knows where he stands when it comes to tariffs. (Ton Molina/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

It’s not clear how many of the Chinese-based efforts to build U.S.-based supply chains will be successful, and they pose a risk of furthering CCP intellectual theft by allowing such companies to do business here.

This week, Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., wrote a letter to the CEO of a Chinese battery company that operates in California, Stored Power Tech Technology Systems Inc., demanding to know more about its rumored links to China Shipbuilding Corp. (Fangfen), an entity controlled by the CCP. The company touts its ties to Fangfen on its LinkedIn page.

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“If these allegations are confirmed, the relationship would blatantly violate U.S. law,” said Hamadeh. “The notion of a Chinese state-controlled enterprise penetrating the U.S. battery industry, especially with potential ties to the Chinese military, is a grave threat.”

February 14, 2025
Trump wants to end penny production. Will it affect consumers?

O’Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O’Leary shares whether he’s concerned about President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, the fate of the U.S. penny and the handling of the TikTok sale.

President Donald Trump is seeking to end production of new pennies and recently told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to make that happen.

Trump revealed late Sunday night he had “instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies,” arguing that “for far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents” and that “this is so wasteful!”

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. ( Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The move has raised the question of how American consumers could be affected and, according to one expert, the impact will be negligible.

“I don’t think it’s gonna have any impact on consumers. I think it’s just a very sensible thing to do, because nobody uses pennies anymore. Nobody needs pennies,” David Bahnsen, founder of the Bahnsen Group, told FOX Business. “Just as a matter of basic practicality and cost benefits, the studies I’ve seen are that it costs three cents to make a penny, so there’s something rather backwards about that math.”

TRUMP IS ‘RIGHT’ TO ORDER THE US TO DITCH THE ‘STUPID’ PENNY, KEVIN O’LEARY SAYS

The cost of making and distributing a penny stood at 3.69 cents in 2024, the U.S. Mint’s most recent annual report indicated.

The U.S. Mint shipped 3.17 billion new pennies last year. The gross cost of those pennies, $117 million, was significantly higher than their $31.7 million combined value, according to the report.

“In terms of affecting consumers, does it make a difference to their spending habits to not have exact change to the extent that that exists at all? It’s so marginal it would be a rounding error,” Bahnsen said.

Pennies are displayed at Glenview Coin & Collectibles July 6, 2006, in Glenview, Ill. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Canada moved away from its version of the penny over a decade ago, and other countries like Australia, New Zealand and Sweden took similar action well before that. In Canada, after the government started phasing out pennies, rounding up or down to the nearest five cents became common for cash transactions.

TRUMP SAYS HE HAS INSTRUCTED US TREASURY TO STOP MINTING NEW PENNIES: ‘THIS IS SO WASTEFUL!’

Bahnsen said rounding cash transactions “is just less likely to happen in a more digital payment environment,” noting not many people “are paying with cash” these days.

A report released last summer by Federal Reserve Financial Services found 32% of payments in October 2023 used credit cards and a similar but slightly smaller share — 30% — used debit cards. Payments with cash, meanwhile, represented 16% of transactions, according to the report.

The Canadian government said in its 2012 economic action plan that getting rid of pennies in New Zealand, Australia and other countries “did not cause an increase in price inflation.”

The U.S. stopping production of new pennies would have little bearing on tips, Bahnsen also said.

He also noted existing pennies will still be in circulation “but you’re really talking about more of a collectible item, not a consumer item, not a transactional currency that people are paying.”

“Ultimately, President Trump’s motive here was to just be more efficient, and I think that the Treasury Department’s wasting a lot of money making pennies that have no real commercial use,” Bahnsen told FOX Business. “This isn’t an earth-shattering event, but it’s something that marginally is more efficient, and that’s what the Treasury Department’s job is.”

Americans for Common Cents, which has been critical of Trump’s effort, argued in a late January press release that ditching the penny “won’t save the government money.”

A pile of U.S. pennies in a photo illustration in Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Many Mint overhead costs would remain and have to be absorbed by other coins without the penny,” Executive Director Mark Weller said. “Also, there would be greater demand for expensive nickels, which means even more costs.”

HOW TRUMP MIGHT GET RID OF THE PENNY – AND WHAT COULD COME NEXT FOR YOUR POCKETBOOK CHANGE

The group receives significant funding from Artazn, according to CNN. That firm reportedly supplies blanks that are used in Mint coin production.

Americans for Common Cents has proposed the government “reexamine how the Mint allocates its overhead costs and focus on reducing the cost of producing nickels” instead of moving away from pennies.

It cost the Mint nearly 13.8 cents to produce a nickel last year, according to the agency.

The group has also pushed back against arguments that the penny doesn’t have value and has argued a “rounding tax” resulting from getting rid of the one-cent denomination would “disproportionately affect” people without access to banking or methods of non-cash payment.

February 12, 2025