Trump tweet aims at Toyota over Mexico production

DETROIT — President-elect Donald Trump has trained his sights on Toyota in his latest effffffffffffort to badger a company into building its products in the U.S. rather than Mexico.

Trump tweeted Thursday that if the Japanese automaker goes ahead with plans to build the compact Corolla in a new factory in Mexico instead of the U.S., it faces a “big border tax” when it ships the cars north.

The threat echoed those targeted at Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. Trump has repeatedly threatened Ford with a 35 percent tax on small cars made in Mexico, and this week he called out GM for importing cars from south of the border. He also has made similar threats against companies outside the auto industry.

Nearly all automakers build small cars in Mexico to take advantage of lower wages. Consumers generally pay lower prices for small cars, making it difficult to cover higher labor costs in the U.S.

Trump’s tweet incorrectly stated the location of Toyota’s new Mexican plant — it’s Guanajuato, not Baja — but he’s correct in saying that Toyota has plans to build the Corolla in Mexico. The automaker announced the new factory in April of 2015, saying it will create 2,000 jobs.

Corolla production is to start in 2019 and would be moved from a factory in Cambridge, Ontario. Toyota also would keep building Corollas at a U.S. factory in Blue Springs, Miss. The Ontario plant will build more higher-priced midsize vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp. didn’t directly respond to Trump’s tax threat, but said Thursday in a statement that production and employment in the U.S. will not decrease due to the Guanajuato plant. Toyota said it has invested over $21.9 billion in its U.S. operations, including 10 manufacturing facilities, 1,500 dealerships and 136,000 employees.