House Members Aren't Digging Trump Administration's Auto Trade Proposals

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

A bipartisan group of over 70 members of the U.S. House of Representatives has asked the Trump administration to reconsider its North American Free Trade Agreement proposal on auto parts rules of origin. Seen as a sunset clause by Canada and Mexico that tweaks international agreements to lower the United States’ trade deficit, the rule has also received some serious blowback from domestic automakers. They’ve even used trade groups to craft awareness campaigns and reach out to congress, a decision that appears to be working.

Currently, NAFTA mandates at least 62.5 percent of the materials used in a car or light truck be sourced from North America in order to avoid tariffs. The Trump administration’s proposal would up that requirement to 85 percent, with 50 percent of the total being from the United States.

However, letters arrived at the White House on Wednesday from a handful of Republican senators and dozens of House representatives, from both sides of the aisle, condemning the proposal.

According to Reuters, they wrote that the push from U.S. negotiators “would eliminate the competitive advantages provided to the U.S. auto industry under the current NAFTA rules — or lead to rejection by Canada and Mexico and the end of the agreement.” They also suggested “either outcome would adversely affect the U.S. auto industry — reducing sales, production, and exports and harming U.S. workers in the process.”

These claims are echoed by automotive trade groups and numerous industry experts, but run counter to the current administration’s claims. Donald Trump himself has said that the renegotiation of NAFTA would serve to bring more jobs to the U.S. and improve the country’s $74 billion automotive trade deficit with Mexico (and $5.6 billion gap with Canada).

It’s difficult to know where to stand on this one when looking only at the facts, primarily because NAFTA has done both harm and good for the country and North America as a whole. But U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has repeatedly reiterated that the deficit cannot stand.

NAFTA bickering negotiations resumed on Wednesday, with cabinet-level officials from all three nations saying they’ll skip attending the talks for this round and leave discussions up to their negotiating teams. Formal talks with chief negotiators begin in Mexico City on Friday, hopefully progressing positively through November 21st.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Gtem Gtem on Nov 16, 2017

    "or with countries that are a socioeconomic and political dumpster fire?" So are you implying that prior to NAFTA, Mexico was on the verge of some sort of serious strife that would endanger the US as a country? Because that is certainly what you seem to be implying.

    • See 2 previous
    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Nov 17, 2017

      @I_like_stuff - American politicians do look out for fellow Americans. The top 1%.The remaining 99% are fvcked. That is partially why people elected the current chump. He did what he always did which was sell his brand but it is just self enriching style with no substance.The other reason was ol’ Hitlery was the poster girl for career swamp dwellers. People are sick and tired of not being represented. Unfortunately the public have not yet seen through the divide and conquer smoke screen of right and left rhetoric. Both parties don’t work for the public. It is a bad reality show that the public hasn’t changed the channel on.

  • Robbie Robbie on Nov 16, 2017

    No mainstream Economist would agree with the protectionist sentiments in this thread. Trade happens because one country is more efficient, in relative terms, at producing a certain good. This is called comparative advantage. Free trade has brought the world prosperity. There is no economic merit for America in producing cars domestically. There are some downsides to free trade. When we buy T-shirts made in China, we rob an unskilled worker in the US somewhere of the chance to produce a T-shirt domestically - at a multiple of the price. Nevertheless, we probably prefer a world in which the US produces the stuff with high value added. We designs iPhones, sell them for $700 all over the world, and China produces the physical product. The net result is that for every top of the line iPhone nearly $500 stays with Apple in the US, and a few dollars stay in China. We charge young Chinese nice six digit amounts to get an American Master's degree. We get the better part of the trade deal here.

    • See 4 previous
    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Nov 17, 2017

      @gtem - great points. I see social assistance as a stop gap measure to help people get back on their feet. There will always be people who will abuse any system and there will always be people dependent upon systems for reasons other than their own doing. There are aspects that should be "socialized" like education. Too many people end up financially near bankrupt due to student loans. If someone wants to pay out of pocket for a PhD in Arts and Crafts, then that should be their right but if there is a shortage of skilled trades, or skilled professionals then those should see a marked reduction in costs to ensure the skill set to continue growing the economy. Even simpler jobs like forklifts that require a "ticket" should see funding to allow people to get the skills they need to look after themselves. The best way to move forward is to take a blended approach to problems. We've seen too many times in history where a strictly left or strictly right wing approach does not work. Any society that favours the upper class and neglects the mid to lower class eventually fails.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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