“Right now as we speak, large factories just are being built across the border in Mexico” by China to make cars to sell in the US, Trump said in an address at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday. “Those plants are going to be built in the United States and our people are going to man those plants,” he said, adding that he would otherwise slap tariffs as high as 200% on each car to prevent them from entering the country, Bloomberg reported.
The comments are similar to remarks he made in March at an Ohio rally welcoming Chinese auto companies to build plants in the US, without naming any firms. China’s largest EV maker BYD Co is looking to set up one of the largest auto factories in Mexico.
Trump also vowed to end an “electric vehicle mandate” on day one if he takes office. While the Biden administration has no such mandate, critics of new air-pollution limits issued by the Environmental Protection Agency have said they would illegally force automakers to sell EVs.