Quarterly figures Ford boss: Trump's tariffs could cost the US industry billions
Ford boss Jim Farley has warned the White House that long-term punitive tariffs of 25 percent on deliveries from Mexico and Canada would hit the US car industry hard. This would cost American manufacturers billions of dollars in profits.
06.02.2025, 03:49
SDA
They would also have serious consequences for jobs in the USA, Farley said after presenting quarterly figures. US car giants such as Ford and General Motors had expanded production in neighboring countries in recent years. US President Donald Trump recently imposed additional tariffs of 25 percent on goods from Mexico and Canada - but then quickly postponed them for 30 days.
Farley argued that rivals such as Hyundai, Kia and Toyota could import millions of vehicles from South Korea and Japan into the USA without any additional burden. At the same time, the White House and Congress had pledged to strengthen the US car industry, not weaken it, he said on US broadcaster CNBC.
Continued high losses with electric cars
The quarterly figures show that Ford is still unable to stop the high losses in its electric car business. The division posted operating losses of just under 1.4 billion dollars. This was a good 180 million dollars less than a year earlier. Farley hopes to turn the tide with newly developed electric models. They should be on the market "in a few years".
Thanks to strong sales of vehicles with combustion engines and commercial vehicles, Ford achieved a quarterly profit of 1.8 billion dollars. In the same quarter of the previous year, there had still been a loss of around 500 million dollars. Turnover rose by five percent to 48.2 billion dollars.
Ford shares fell by more than four percent in US after-hours trading. The Group forecast a decline in adjusted operating profit for the current financial year to between 7 and 8.5 billion dollars from 10.2 billion dollars in 2024. Analysts had expected more.
