US presidential candidate Donald Trump has repeated false claims that Chinese manufacturers are building large factories in Mexico and has promised to impose 200% tariffs on cars produced by these alleged factories.
Trump also said on Tuesday, during an event in the northeastern state of Michigan, which is home to much of the US auto industry, that if Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is elected in November, the industry will no longer exist in the country because assembly of electric vehicles will be shifted to China.
The statement comes after official data showed that employment in the auto industry has grown since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, after falling during Trump's first term.
"If I don't win, you're not going to have an auto industry in two to three years," Trump said. "There's going to be no manufacturing plants. China is going to take over all the manufacturing because of electric cars," he added.
The candidate has said he would force foreign automakers to build factories in the United States by imposing punitive tariffs on imported cars.
“It’s going to be like taking candy from a baby,” Trump said.
Foreign automakers already have several factories in the United States, mostly in the Southern states.
Auto employment fell 0.8% during Trump’s term to just over 949,000 in January 2021, when he left office, according to official figures. Since Biden took office that month, employment in the sector has increased 13.6%, to 1.07 million in August.
Auto sales rose 2.4% in the first half of 2024.
Trump has said that any tariffs would make Chinese-made vehicles built in Mexico too expensive to sell in the United States, forcing automakers from China and other countries to build factories on U.S. soil.
“They are owned and built by China in Mexico, and several of them are being built right now,” Trump said of the Chinese factories.
While some Chinese automakers have aspirations to sell in the U.S., analysts say there are no major factories under construction in Mexico.
There is only one small auto assembly plant in operation in the country, owned by the Chinese company JAC, which builds low-cost vehicles for sale in the Mexican market.
Trump has also promised to levy tariffs on vehicles made in other countries if those countries impose tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles.
Economists have warned that in many cases, the cost of the tariffs ends up being passed on to consumers in the country that imposes the tariffs.
Kamala Harris’s campaign released a statement from Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who said a second Trump term would crush auto jobs by “giving Michigan’s world leadership in auto manufacturing to the Chinese government.”
Peters said Harris has a plan to bring good-paying jobs to the state "and ensure Michigan workers continue to lead the world in auto manufacturing."
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