DETROIT—Ford Motor Co. is going ahead with plans to move small-car production from the U.S. to Mexico despite recent threats from President-elect Donald Trump.
CEO Mark Fields tells The Associated Press that Ford’s plan to move production of the Focus from Michigan to Mexico will proceed, in part because U.S. consumers demand low prices for small cars. He stressed that no U.S. jobs will be lost, since the Michigan plant will make two new vehicles.
In a series of tweets Sunday, Trump reiterated a threat to impose a 35-percent tariff on companies that build new plants abroad and sell products back to the U.S.
Fields says tariffs would hurt the auto industry. But he says he’s optimistic that Trump supports policies like tax reform that could help the U.S. economy.
