President Donald Trump traveled to metro Detroit to tout the newly signed USMCA agreement.
The new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada will bring as many as 80,000 new manufacturing jobs to the United States because new rules of origin will require more companies to build cars and parts in the United States, President Donald Trump said during an appearance Thursday at an axle plant in Warren, Michigan.
Trump referenced his hope of winning Michigan’s electoral votes next fall and pledged action on several local political questions such as additional protection for Iraqi Christian refugees that have settled around Detroit, protecting the Great Lakes from Asian Carp and rebuilding the Soo Locks in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
He also took some jabs at the news media and the ongoing impeachment trial as he addressed the crowd made up largely of employees from the Dana Corp. and other factories with an interest in the automotive business.
(Trump traveling to Michigan to promote new NAFTA deal)
Trump talked about the USMCA and its impact on the auto industry in Warren, Michigan.
But Trump spent most of his time touting the new USMCA. The USMCA is a replacement for NAFTA, which he has described as “the worst trade deal” ever signed by the United States. NAFTA resulted in massive job losses across the manufacturing sector, Trump said.
Michigan’s auto industry was particularly hard hit, he noted.
However, Michigan is coming back, Trump said, citing Fiat Chrysler plans to build the first new assembly plant in Detroit in more than 30 years that will employ 6,000. Ford also is spending $1.5 billion to create 3,000 new jobs and General Motors is spending $2.2 billion to create 2,200 new jobs, Trump noted.
(UAW blasts Trump trade deal with China, skeptical about USMCA)
Ultimately, the USMCA will lead to the creation of 80,000 great manufacturing, Trump told the crowd, which broke into chants of “four more years,” the President stood under a bright spotlight at his podium.
Trump shakes hands with a Dana Corp. employee during the President’s visit.
“A lot more are coming, I can tell you that,” said Trump, who spoke in front of a large sign with the letters USMCA in the center flanked by the words “Promises Made” one on side and “Promises Kept” on the other. One of Trump’s campaign slogans, it is widely used in front of friendly audiences.
Dana operates plants all over the world and has extensive operations in Mexico that are used to support customers across North America.
(U.S. Senate passes NAFTA replacement, sent to Trump for signature)
The Warren plant, which is located on the site of the old Detroit Tank Arsenal, employs more than 800 employees, building axles and drive shafts for General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler. The plant has been a beneficiary of the boom in truck and sport-utility vehicles that now account for more than 70% of the new vehicles sold in the U.S.