General Motors Executives Defend NAFTA

Over the weekend, Mary Barra, the Chief Executive of General Motors, expressed optimism that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will survive, while some senior General Motors executives stayed by the plans of the company to continue making trucks in Mexico.

Chief Executive of General Motors is optimistic that NAFTA will survive.

At an event to flaunt the 2019 Chevrolet Silverdo pickup truck of General Motors ahead of the automobile show in Detroit, Barra did not answer directly when asked if the automaker is reevaluating current production in Mexico in light of potential changes or the downfall of the deal between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The executives of the company did not exclude future changes to the company’s North American production plans depending on the result of the current NAFTA renegotiation discussions, even though it will be expensive to shift production of trucks.

According to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, it will move the production of its next-generation heavy-duty pickup trucks to Michigan from its plant in Mexico, a move that will lessen the risk that those trucks will be a hit with a 25 percent tax if NAFTA unravels.

“When I look at our footprint, there is so much more work and negotiations to be done on NAFTA,” Barra stated after avoiding a question about General Motors Mexican truck plant.

General Motors development chief, Mark Reuss stated that the company is using its existing truck plants in North America, but he did not elaborate when asked if General Motors could stop building trucks in Mexico.

“I'm not sure that we would tell anybody that,” told Reuss. “I don't think we'd be talking about our footprint in the future.”

In a separate report, Reuss said that General Motors is intending to use its North American plants, including those in Mexico.

Barra, who met Vice President Mike Pence along with other U.S. auto executives last November, stated that General Motors has been working to educate the Trump administration about the complexities of the auto manufacturing and its supply base.

“We're going to continue to work constructively to get a modernized NAFTA agreement,” said the Chief Executive.

Barra said that she is optimistic that NAFTA will survive.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to walk away from the 1994 accord unless major changes are made in the negotiations with Canada and Mexico.

Some executives of General Motors defended the automaker’s North American manufacturing strategy, stating that 80 percent of the trucks sold in the U.S. are made in the United States factories.

General Motors North American President Alan Batey said that the Mexican truck plant of General Motors supports jobs in the United States.

“The truck we build in Mexico, the engines come from the U.S. everything is interlinked,” Batey said after showing off the automaker’s new Silverdo.

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