Ford to move production of Focus from Mexico to China

Ford Motor Co. is moving production of its Focus model to China after production at its Michigan plant ends in 2019.

The move, which Ford estimates will save it $500 million in production costs for the car, comes as the company has become a target of President Trump, who is pressuring manufacturers to keep jobs in the United States.

{mosads}Ford initially planned to move production of the Focus to Mexico, but it is now scrapping that plan in favor of production in China, according to a report in Bloomberg.

Trump thanked Ford on Twitter for its decision to scrap the Mexican plant.

Ford said last week that it will expand in Michigan and U.S. instead of building a BILLION dollar plant in Mexico. Thank you Ford & Fiat C!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017

China’s labor costs are lower than Mexico’s, but shipping costs for the small cars will rise.

On the campaign trail and early in his presidency, Trump threatened to slap a 35 percent tariff on products made by American companies in other countries.