Jamie L. LaReau | Detroit Free Press

In a stern warning to the U.S. government, General Motors said Friday it would have to slash jobs if the Trump administration expands U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles.

GM filed its statement Friday to the Department of Commerce in response to President Donald Trump's call for the department to investigate whether auto imports pose a threat to national security. Trump has threatened a 25 percent tax on imported cars and car parts.

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"If import tariffs on automobiles are not tailored to specifically advance the objectives of the economic and national security goals of the United States, increased import tariffs could lead to a smaller GM, a reduced presence at home and abroad" for GM and, "risk less — not more — U.S. jobs," the Detroit automaker said.

Likewise, Toyota also filed comments Thursday saying tariffs would increase its costs to build cars at its manufacturing plants in the U.S. and undermine U.S. national security.

It warned that the potential tariff on cars and parts would have a negative impact on all manufacturers, increasing the cost of imported vehicles as well as those built in the U.S., but rely on parts from overseas.

It gave, as example, the Toyota Camry sedan, built in Kentucky but about a third of its parts are imported. The Camry would see a cost increase of about $1,800,which would be passed on to buyers in the form of higher prices, Toyota said.

"General Motors and Toyota were unusually vocal about the impact on the threatened tariffs," said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for AutoTrader in Detroit. "Their comments illustrate clearly how severe the tariffs could be on their companies, their employees and consumers if they are enacted.

"We have not estimated the cost of tariffs in terms of sales, but ... the hit would be big if a full-blown trade war erupts."

Friday was the deadline for comments on the proposed tariffs.

Earlier this week, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that represents General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, Volkswagen and other automakers, sent comments to the Commerce Department. It argued that raising tariffs on imported autos and auto parts is "not the right approach" to balance trade and cautioning that it could hurt investment and jobs at a time when auto sales are flattening. It could also result in higher car prices for all consumers and limit buyer's options.

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GM said steep tariffs on cars and parts could undermine GM’s competitiveness against foreign carmakers by "erecting broad-brush trade barriers that increase our global costs, remove a key means of competing with manufacturers in lower-wage countries, and promote a trade environment in which we could be retaliated against in other markets."

Higher tariffs could also damage GM's "future industrial strength and readiness" of manufacturing operations in the U.S. That could damage GM and U.S. economic security as a result, it said.

Analysts agree that increased tariffs will harm GM's profitability and hurt its stock price.

Tariffs would lead to "a contraction of the company versus an expansion," said Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book in New York. "If GM products are 20 percent more expensive throughout the world, we could easily see a reduction in the white-collar and blue-collar workforce right here in the states as the company grapples with a reduction in sales.”