The Meaning of Trump’s Meeting With Detroit Automakers
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump moved forward with his “America first” economic strategy by meeting with the CEOs of Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler to talk about bringing manufacturing jobs back the United States. At the beginning of the meeting with Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers, Trump said he planned to make the United States a more attractive place for companies to manufacture products by lowering taxes and removing business regulations—such as environmental regulations, which the new president criticized in his remarks. This pitch to businesses has been a common theme during Trump’s first days in office, such as at his meeting with corporate leaders on Monday.
American automakers have been for building cars in Mexico. On Tuesday, Trump took a more conciliatory tone, saying he wasn’t singling out car manufacturers, and wanted to let them know that he plans to make the process of building factories “much more simple for the auto companies.” Though Trump didn’t specify which regulations he would remove, he said environmental rules in general are “out of control.” The rest of the conversation was held in private, though it’s likely that NAFTA—the trade deal Trump has blamed for companies moving manufacturing jobs to Mexico—came up during the discussion.
