President-elect Donald Trump has proposed a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico to punish those nations for allowing illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, as well as migrants to cross their shared borders, saying he'll enact said tariffs on his first day in office in 2025.Automakers have significant manufacturing presences in both of the U.S.'s neighboring countries.
Ford and GM also have sizable manufacturing footprints in both countries that include production of electric powertrains and EV assembly.Avoiding tariffs would require huge capital investment, not only to build a new plant or retool an existing one in the U.S., but also to move the machinery and train a new workforce. A tariff on imports would also affect suppliers, who colocate their factories with the auto assembly plants they serve.