Trump's claims about auto industry hyperbolic but not entirely untrue
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump included a shout-out to Detroit's auto industry in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, saying he "halted government mandates that crippled America's great, beautiful autoworkers, so we can get the Motor City revving its engines once again."
Michigan's auto companies had been in the midst of a resurgence before Trump was elected in November 2016, having had record sales that year, topping seven years of growth after General Motors and Chrysler were steered through structured bankruptcies — and aided by billions in federal investment — during the Obama administration.
Trump wasn't specific about which regulations he was referring to, but his administration has moved to relax fuel efficiency standards mandated under earlier rules for cars and light trucks in model years 2021-2025 — help that carmakers said they wanted, though environmentalists and state officials in California have protested the change.
Whether that has led to any increase in auto production is questionable — U.S. sales dropped slightly in 2017 and further slippage is expected this year — but what is not is another mention made by Trump about Michigan — that Fiat Chrysler was moving production from Mexico to the state. Earlier this month, FCA said it was investing more than $1 billion to modernize the Warren Truck Plant and add 2,500 jobs as it moves production in 2020 of its Ram Heavy Duty trucks. The company said that move was made possible by a new federal tax law pushed by Trump that slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/01/30/state-union-fact-check-trumps-claims-revving-auto-industry-hyperbolic-but-not-entirtrumps-auto-indus/1081531001/
