Pence Meets With Automakers Annoyed by NAFTA Changes

The automotive industry is wary of any changes that might be made in regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Fortunately for them, little progress has been made during the last few months of negotiations. But that doesn’t create an assurance that changes aren’t still en route. So, manufacturers and suppliers have banded together via various trade groups to voice their opinion on how to best handle NAFTA.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has attempted to make itself appear friendly to the automotive business. Continuing these efforts, Vice President Mike Pence has met with General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Fiat Chrysler’s Sergio Marchionne, Ford North America President Joe Hinrichs, and a handful of other top-tier auto executives.

Here’s the problem: While the current administration has made strides to remove regulatory barriers, especially those regarding autonomous development and emissions caps, its plan for NAFTA hasn’t been looked upon quite so favorably within the industry. Shaking up North America’s trade arrangements and forcing the rules of origin more favorably to the U.S. isn’t what domestic automakers want right now.

“We view the modernization of NAFTA as an important opportunity to update the 23-year-old agreement and set the stage for an expansion of U.S. auto exports,” said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council. “We believe achieving inclusion of strong and enforceable currency discipline and ensuring foreign markets accept products built to our standards are important components of a modern NAFTA agreement.”

The industry doesn’t seem to mind the government sorting out currency manipulation, but tariffs and regional component mandates could seriously complicate things for both manufacturers and suppliers. As a result, there has been some overt resistance coming from automotive trade groups focused squarely at Washington. In addition to lobbying for modest changes, groups have issued numerous letters to the White House and called for support from the general populace.

Monday’s meeting with Pence likely served as a way to alleviate some of that growing tension. According to Reuters, the gathering was officially intended to cover “trade, commerce and manufacturing policy and how it impacts [the auto] business,” and was originally scheduled to include National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

How successful it was is unknown. However, it’s unlikely the industry will change its position anytime soon. In fact, the industry recently launched a new campaign called “Driving American Jobs,” which aims to do little more than leave NAFTA unmolested. But more established industry collectives, like the American Automotive Policy Council and Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, appear to be marching to a similar beat.

“Our biggest concern is for American workers and customers,” Jennifer Thomas, vice president of federal affairs at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in an official statement. “Pulling out of NAFTA would lead to a decrease in vehicle production, a decline in jobs and an increase in what our customers spend when buying a new vehicle. Not to mention this would also have an impact on our abilities to export vehicles to foreign markets.”

Ann Arbor’s Center for Automotive estimates Americans would buy or lease 450,000 fewer vehicles over a year if the U.S. were to enact the proposed 35-percent tariff on light vehicles imported from Mexico. That change is also believed to eliminate around 7,000 North American assembly jobs. While the majority of the layoffs would be in Mexico, industry experts claim those jobs won’t emigrate to the United States. Instead, everyone’s best guess is that production would eventually shift to Asia. That could easily cripple U.S. supplier chains and cost tens of thousands of domestic jobs, if the center’s estimates prove accurate.

[Image: Gage Skidmore/ Flickr ( CC BY-SA 2.0)]