Washington: US President Donald Trump has credited his tariff policies with reviving General Motors and bringing automobile production back to the United States, saying the company was enjoying its strongest year.
Trump made the remarks on Monday during a visit to the GM Milford Proving Ground in Michigan. He toured the facility with General Motors CEO Mary Barra and company President Mark Reuss.
“They’ve come a long way. It’s amazing what tariffs will do for General Motors, and what the election has done,” Trump said. “They’re doing great; General Motors is doing fantastically, the best year they’ve ever had.”
Trump described the visit as the first by a sitting US president to the proving ground, one of the best-known testing facilities in the American automobile industry. “Today, I’m proud to say that the auto industry is back and America is back, and it’s pulling Detroit and Michigan along with it,” he told workers. The president said his administration had imposed a 25 per cent tariff on foreign automobiles and trucks to encourage manufacturers to produce vehicles inside the United States.
“My policy is simple if you make your truck or your car in a foreign country, you have to pay for the privilege of sending it into our market and making a lot of money,” Trump said.
“But if you build in a factory in Michigan or someplace in our country and make your automobiles or trucks right here in America, you pay zero taxes, zero tariff, you pay zero, zero tariff,” he added. (IANS)
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