From the comments on another post, here's something from David Gantz:
Am I missing something with the announcement that Ford will build a new plant in China to build the next generation small car (Focus)? I believe that this was the plant that Ford originally planned for Mexico, but changed its mind after criticism from Mr. Trump. (Apparently, Ford's existing US plants are busy with much more profitable SUVs and small trucks.) It seems to me that the major result of the decision to build the plant in China rather than in Mexico is that while the vehicles produced in the Mexican plant would likely have used 35-40% US parts and components (to meet the 62.5% NAFTA value added requirements), the Chinese made Focuses will likely have little or no US parts content. Ford will probably save enough money in using cheaper Asian parts to more than offset to 2.5% duty assessed when the finished vehicles enter the United States. Somehow, this doesn't seem the best way to preserve manufacturing jobs in the US. Or am I missing something?
