Getty Trump targets Toyota: Build plant in U.S. or pay 'big border tax'

President-elect Donald Trump waded once again into the world of automotive manufacturing, criticizing a carmaker for the second time this week for not building its vehicles in the United States and threatening to levy a heavy tariff on their imports.

“Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax,” Trump wrote on Twitter Thursday afternoon. That post followed one on Tuesday, when he wrote, “General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A. or pay big border tax!”


Toyota’s plan to increase its Mexican manufacturing base was announced in April, 2015, and USA Today reported at the time that production planned for Mexico would replace that of a factory in Ontario, Canada, and not in the U.S. Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said at an event in Tokyo on Thursday that “we have no immediate plan to change” where they make their cars, according to a Reuters report. But Toyoda also said at that event that his company and Trump are “oriented in the same direction” and that he “would like to closely watch various decisions [Trump] makes,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

"Toyota has been part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for nearly 60 years. Production volume or employment in the U.S. will not decrease as a result of our new plant in Guanajuato, Mexico announced in April 2015," a Thursday statement from the company said. "Toyota looks forward to collaborating with the Trump Administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry."

While it is not an American company, Toyota operates multiple manufacturing plants in the U.S. and just one in Mexico. It is one of the most popular car brands in the U.S. and its Corolla sedan is among the top sellers. The company’s stock dipped somewhat following Trump’s remark, falling nearly a full point before recovering somewhat.

General Motors, for its part, released a statement on Thursday clarifying that all of its Cruze sedans are made in Ohio and that some of its hatchback models are made in Mexico. Those hatchbacks, GM said, are built mostly for the international market but some are brought back into the U.S.

One day after Trump slammed GM for manufacturing in Mexico, he praised its chief rival, Ford Motor Company, for abandoning plans to build a plant in Mexico and instead investing $700 million into one in Michigan. The president-elect wrote on Twitter that Ford’s move was “just the beginning — much more to follow.”

Trump made his pledge to bring manufacturing jobs back to America a center point of his campaign, and made special mention of Mexico as one nation that has benefited greatly from an influx of jobs from the United States. He railed against trade agreements like NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, labeling them job killers and promising to renegotiate more favorable deals. He also pledged to slap any company that moves jobs overseas and then imports products back to the U.S. with a 35 percent tariff.