Ford kills plan to import Chinese-made car in wake of tariffs
‘Our viewpoint on Focus Active was that, given the tariffs, obviously our costs would be substantially higher,’ says Ford North America president
Ford is cancelling plans to import a new crossover model from a plant in China after US President Donald Trump’s tariffs undermined the business case for bringing the vehicle to the US market.
Trump’s move to slap China-built autos with an additional 25 per cent levy in July undermined the profitability of the Focus Active that Ford planned to start shipping into the US about a year from now, Kumar Galhotra, president of North America, said in a conference call with reporters.
The company decided it was not worth investing more money in a vehicle that would have had fewer than 50,000 unit sales a year in the US.
“Our viewpoint on Focus Active was that, given the tariffs, obviously our costs would be substantially higher,” Galhotra said. “Our resources could be better deployed.”
With Trump trying to rewrite trade agreements on multiple fronts, carmakers are anxiously war-gaming where they will assemble cars and procure parts for them.
In addition to the tariffs already implemented for cars imported from China, the administration has also threatened steep tariffs on vehicles shipped from Europe and has a preliminary agreement with Mexico to require that more autos and components are made by higher-wage workers to avoid duties.