U.S. General Motors warns about the job risk created due to tariffs on imported vehicles

COLOMBO (News 1st) - U.S. automaker General Motors (GM) Friday warned that the extra tariffs imposed on imported vehicles could risk jobs in the United States. The automaker filed comments with the U.S. Commerce Department, saying the import tariffs President Donald Trump is mulling could lead to a shrink in GM's production scale and cause less jobs. According to GM, the tariffs could raise vehicle prices and reduce sales. Even if automakers chose not to pass on higher costs, it could still lead to less investment, fewer jobs, and lower wages for our employees. In the long term, the tariffs will isolate U.S. automakers in global market and delay their breakthrough technologies. GM operates 47 U.S. manufacturing facilities and employs about 110,000 people in the country. It buys tens of billions of dollars' worth of parts from U.S. suppliers every year and has invested over 22 billion dollars in U.S. manufacturing operations since 2009. GM is the second U.S. manufacturing giant that warned of the dangers of Trump's tariff policies within a week. On Monday, U.S. motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson announced that it would move production of motorcycles shipped to the European Union from the United States to its international facilities, in an effort to avoid the possible retaliatory tariffs imposed by the EU. Trump launched an investigation into imported vehicles in May and repeatedly threatened to impose a 20 percent import tariff on vehicles. The Commerce Department planned to wrap up its investigation into automotive imports by late July or August.