Despite a reported net income in 2017 of $7.6 billion, the most since 2013, Ford CEO Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett said this week the Chinese tariffs cost the company $1 billion in profit loss last year.
“The metals tariffs took about $1 billion in profit from us -- and the irony is we source most of that in the U.S. today anyways,” Hackett said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “If it goes on longer, there will be more damage."
Industry Week reported Wednesday that Ford and other global automakers have opposed the president’s use of tariffs and the retaliation they spur:
Last month, Jim Farley, Ford’s president of global markets, described Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum as a “significant headwind for us.” A few weeks later, the second-largest U.S. automaker canceled plans to import the Focus Active crossover from China, citing Trump’s vehicle tariffs.
“What we’re urging our administration to do -- where we’re in China and in Europe -- we say, you need to come to agreement quickly,” Hackett said.
The news seemed to have little effect on Ford's shares Wednesday, but they have dropped 25% in value since the first of 2018.
Reuters reported Wednesday that China unveiled plans to cut tariffs for products including machinery, electrical equipment and textile products beginning on Nov. 1, as the country braces for an escalating trade war with the United States.
