As trade tensions between the United States and China continue to drag on, BMW officials said this week the company would consider building more of its SUVs in China.

Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter, during BMW's quarterly earnings call this week, said the company will make "a final decision in coming weeks about which model to localize in China," which was first reported by Reuters.

When asked Thursday about the effect such a decision could have on BMW production in Spartanburg, BMW USA spokesman Kenn Sparks referenced the Reuters article.

“If the tariffs undermine the competitiveness of BMW production and sales in the U.S., the result could be strongly reduced export volumes with negative effects on investments and jobs in the U.S.,” Sparks told the media outlet on Wednesday.

BMW's net profit fell by 24 percent in the third quarter.

Company CEO Harold Kruger said BMW is experiencing "volatile and challenging times ... The current situation is certainly unique: We are seeing an accumulation of challenges — on the geopolitical, trade and competitive fronts."

Kruger highlighted emissions targets in Europe and an uncertain future regarding the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union among those challenges, along with "trade disputes between the United States and China straining the entire global economy."

BMW has long produced its line of X-model vehicles in Spartanburg, the company's largest worldwide operation. That number includes the X3, X4, X5 and X6 models, along with — soon — the brand new X7.

The Spartanburg plant exports about 70 percent of the 400,000 vehicles it produces each year. The top export destination is China, followed by Germany.

BMW is among the companies caught in the middle of a raging trade war between the United States and China.

In a bid to rework trade agreements in favor of the United States, U.S. President Donald Trump added new tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum earlier this year.

Later, tariffs were added on imported goods from around the world, including China, the European Union and Mexico.

That sparked retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products exported abroad, including a 40 percent tariff by China on U.S.-manufactured autos earlier this summer. In response, BMW increased the price of certain models exported to China by up to 7 percent.

In July, BMW announced plans to step up production of new vehicles in China. The company also declared that it had not changed its plans to invest another $600 million and hire an additional 1,000 workers by 2021 at the Spartanburg plant, nor had it altered its plan to start up production of the new X7 model here later this year.

In August, BMW reported its second quarter earnings fell 14.5 percent versus the same quarter last year, and said in September it anticipated 2018 revenues and profits to finish lower than anticipated.

Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt, who helped bring BMW to Spartanburg County years ago, has long warned of the potential negative effects tariffs could have on BMW's bottom line and, in turn, the 10,000 men and women the company employs at its facility near Greer.

"These people are doing their best to navigate these waters, but when you're talking about a company like BMW that reports a very significant decline, that sends up major red flags," Britt said. "So your questions become, 'What are we going to do to avoid continued loss? Where are our investments going, and where is the market?"

In October, Ford Motor Co. warned of potential layoffs after that company said ongoing tariff woes had cost it up to $1 billion in 2018.

"I think we have people looking at Ford saying, 'Who would have thought tariffs intended to hit foreign companies would hit us this hard at home," Britt said. "But that's the risk you run."

Britt said he hopes Trump is soon able to negotiate better trade agreements, because he worries the cost of an ongoing trade war will continue to climb.

"Here's the deal," Britt said. "The worry is that these trade wars are creating jobs, but they're not creating them here — they're being created in China. And the problem is that once they're gone, they're not coming back. The president needs to sit down with all these partners and get these trade agreements done quickly and fairly."