Trump’s Tariffs Have Killed Off the Ford Focus

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Donald Trump is making America great again:

Ford Motor Co. has ditched plans to import its Focus compact vehicle from China to the U.S. starting next year, citing an expected hit from import tariffs the Trump administration put into effect in July. Ford had planned to begin shipping a new version of the Focus from China, starting in the second half of 2019. But the 25% tariff now in place upended the economic case for importing the vehicle, said Kumar Galhotra, head of Ford North America.

….Ford recently discontinued U.S. production of the Focus, but said it would re-enter the market next year as a small crossover utility vehicle made in China. The decision to nix the import plan means the Focus nameplate will no longer be sold in the U.S., a spokesman said.

So now there will be no Focus at all. It probably doesn’t matter much, but it demonstrates the peril of ill-advised tariffs. Sure, this hurts China a bit, but it does nothing to change the fact that manufacturing the Focus in America doesn’t make sense for Ford. There will be no new jobs for American workers and no new assembly lines. So what was the point?

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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