Trump's tariffs cost 14,000 jobs...

Financial Times wrote:General Motors shuts down 7 plants

General Motors said it would cease production at seven plants worldwide and lay off thousands of workers, drawing a pointed rebuke from Donald Trump, the US president who has pinned his political fortunes on an industrial revival. 

Shares in the largest US carmaker closed nearly 5 per cent higher after it announced the moves, which were intended to cut $6bn in costs as GM braces for a downturn in its home market and the impact of the global trade war.

Four of the factories to be shuttered next year — two assembly plants and two power train plants — are in the US, including in politically pivotal states like Ohio and Michigan, where Mr Trump has credited his protectionist trade policies with bolstering American manufacturing. A fifth plant in Canada will also be closed. 

Speaking on the White House lawn on Monday afternoon, Mr Trump said he told Mary Barra, GM’s chief executive, that he was “not happy” with the move.

“The United States saved General Motors [under the watchful eyes of the Obama administration], and for her to take that company out of Ohio is not good,” he said, as he urged GM to “put something back in soon” to replace the lost production. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr Trump said GM should stop making cars in China.

The closures announced on Monday would require cuts of about 15 per cent of GM’s North American workforce, or 8,000 salaried workers. Another 6,000 temporary staff would be laid off or relocated.

“We’re taking these actions while the company and economy are strong to stay ahead of what we all know are very challenging environments,” Ms Barra said.

Ms Barra’s cuts make GM the latest carmaker to slim operations amid weakening US sales, following Ford’s announced plans to halt production of all passenger cars for North America.

They come against a backdrop of rising costs, falling car sales and shifting consumer tastes — notably, a growing preference in the US for pick-up trucks and sports utility vehicles — which carmakers must contend with while pumping investments into new technologies such as electric and self-driving vehicles.

“There have been a lot of headwinds,” Ms Barra said, though she denied the company expected an imminent downturn in the US economy.

[Trump] promised us that his massive corporate tax cut would lead to dramatic reinvestments in our communities. That clearly is not happening

Most of the US factories losing work will be in the big midwestern states that helped elect Mr Trump in 2016, including the two car assembly plants — Detroit-Hamtramck in Detroit and Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio — and a power train plant in Warren, Michigan.

Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council at the White House, was set to meet Ms Barra following the announcement, according to a Trump administration official. 

Democrats sought to put the blame for the lay-offs at the feet of Mr Trump, with Tim Ryan, a Democratic congressman from Ohio, saying the president had been “asleep at the switch” when officials sought help to save the Lordstown plant.

“He promised us that his massive corporate tax cut would lead to dramatic reinvestments in our communities,” Mr Ryan said. “That clearly is not happening.”

GM is aiming to cut costs by $4.5bn and reduce capital spending by $1.5bn a year, and will double resources allocated to electric and autonomous cars over the next two years.

GM and Ford have been hit hard by steel and aluminium tariffs introduced by Mr Trump as part of his protectionist trade policy. The two carmakers have said increased raw material prices cost them $1bn each, because their largely domestic suppliers raised prices following the tariffs.

The two have also been hampered by lacklustre US car sales, which fell last year and are expected to continue sliding into next year. At the same time, customer demands are changing, with a shift away from traditional saloons towards larger SUVs and pick-ups.

Mr Trump said GM’s decision had “nothing to do with tariffs. The car was not selling.”  [Another lie]

Ms Barra said GM was seeking to “right-size” the business, increasing the utilisation of its remaining North American plants. As part of the moves, GM will cut several models, including the Chevrolet Cruze and its hybrid Volt car, when their current production programmes come to their end.

In addition to the midwest closures, GM will issue no fresh work to an assembly plant in Oshawa in Ontario, Canada, and the Baltimore power train plant in White Marsh, Maryland.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, wrote on Twitter that he had told Ms Barra of his “deep disappointment in the closure”. 

He added: “GM workers have been part of the heart and soul of Oshawa for generations — and we’ll do everything we can to help the families affected by this news get back on their feet.”

GM will also seek to close two international plants by the end of next year, though they did not identify where. Over several years, the company has withdrawn from struggling or unprofitable markets, such as Russia, India and Europe, where it sold  its lossmaking Opel and Vauxhall brands to Peugeot. Earlier this year it closed an assembly plant in South Korea.

GM offered buyouts to 18,000 staff last month in a cost-cutting move.