The U.S. auto industry doesn't need Donald Trump's help - CNNMoney
, make most of the cars they sell in the U. S. at U. S. plants. In fact, Honda now exports more cars from its U. S. plants than it imports into the U. S. Likewise, German automaker BMW is expanding its South Carolina plant to make it the company's biggest worldwide. And most of the cars made there are sold outside of the United States. auto plants exported 2. 1 million cars in 2014, a record for the industry. And the value of U. S. cars, trucks and parts that are exported has more than doubled since 1999, reaching nearly $160 billion last year. Even Trump acknowledges that slapping tariffs on Mexican-made cars would drive up the cost for consumers. But with Americans already paying record prices for new cars, higher prices will knock some potential buyers out of the market. One of the things that has made U. S. cars so competitive here and abroad is the availability of Mexican-made parts. Making Mexican parts more expensive would just give an advantage to cars made in Asia, not in the U. S. And if U. S. -made cars can't compete, that puts American jobs at risk. Morningstar: © 2015 Morningstar, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and. Source: money.cnn.com
