Ford's CEO Thursday slammed Donald Trump's attack on the carmaker for its plan to move all of its small-car production from the United States to a new $1.6 billion plant in Mexico that will create 2,800 jobs.
"Zero" jobs will be lost in Michigan, where Ford is based, with the move, Mark Fields told Poppy Harlow on CNN. He told investors of the move to shift the production of the Ford Focus to Mexico on Tuesday.
"What we announced is that we'll be moving our focus out of Michigan so that we can compete more financially in that particular segment but at the same time, that's an agreement we have with the UAW," Fields said. "What we'll be doing is we'll be replacing those products with two very exciting new products.
"So, not one job will be lost — and most of our investment is here in the U.S.," he added. "And that's the way it will continue to be."
While in Flint on Wednesday, Trump bashed Ford's plan to move the car production out of the state.
"It used to be that cars were made in Flint and you couldn't drink the water in Mexico," Trump said in remarks at the Bethel United Methodist Church. "And now, the cars are made in Mexico and you can't drink the water in Flint.
"It's terrible," he said.
Fields told Harlow that Ford has created more than 28,000 jobs and has invested more than $12 billion in the United States — but that the company must remain competitive globally.
"It's about global competitiveness, because as a company we have to be competitive," he said. "That way, we earn a good return, we can reinvest in our business and keep growing jobs."
Fields declined to say what a president could do to keep Ford from shifting jobs to Mexico, but said that "clearly looking at the tax code, simplifying that [and] regulatory certainty is always very beneficial."
He added that "a level playing field when it comes to trade agreements" would help "as we look to do our part to drive economic development here in the U.S."
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