Trump Says Ford Called to Say It's Keeping SUV Plant in Kentucky
Keith Naughton

President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Twitter that he convinced Ford Motor Co. to keep production of a Lincoln sport utility vehicle in the U.S. instead of moving it to Mexico. And the automaker doesn’t dispute that.

“Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky -- no Mexico,” Trump wrote in a Twitter post.

Ford builds the Lincoln MKC small SUV at its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky alongside the Ford Escape SUV. Ford had never said it was considering shifting MKC production south of the border. But the company confirmed Friday that it had been “likely” to move the work to Mexico in 2019 when its current contract with the United Auto Workers union expires.

“We had planned to move the Lincoln MKC out of Louisville Assembly Plant," probably to the Cuautitlan factory in Mexico, Christin Baker, a Ford spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

Trump has criticized Ford for planning to move all its North American small-car production to Mexico, where wages are 80 percent lower than in the U.S. Ford also builds the Lincoln MKZ sedan at a factory in Hermosillo, Mexico. During the campaign, Trump threatened to slap Ford’s Mexican-built cars with a 35 percent tariff. He also said he would terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which lets goods flow between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada without tariffs.
Automaker ‘Encouraged’

Ford, which has expressed a willingness to work with Trump since he was elected, confirmed late Thursday it told the future president the Lincoln SUV will stay in Kentucky.

“We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the U.S.,” the automaker said in an e-mailed statement.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2...ant-in-kentucky

And more:

Interesting Request by Apple Corporation to Manufacturers…
Posted on November 17, 2016 by sundance

Corporations plan for contingencies. Almost every reasonable corporation has a five-year strategy team. Against this prior article, Apple’s inquiry appears prescient.

TAIPEI — iPhones might one day soon carry “Made in America” labels. Key Apple assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, has been studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the U.S., sources told the Nikkei Asian Review.

“Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.,” a source said. “Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns.”

Foxconn, based in the gritty, industrial Tucheng district in suburban Taipei, and its smaller Taiwanese rival churn out more than 200 million iPhones annually from their massive Chinese campuses.

Another source said that while Foxconn had been working on the request from Apple Inc., its biggest customer that accounts for more than 50% of its sales, Chairman Terry Gou had been less enthusiastic due to an inevitable rise in production costs.

“Making iPhones in the U.S. means the cost will more than double,” the source said.

The person added that one view among the Apple supply chain in Taiwan is that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may push the Cupertino, California-based tech titan to make a certain number of iPhone components at home.



https://theconservativetreehouse.com/201...-manufacturers/



Original article:
Apple could make iPhones in US in future: sources
DEBBY WU, Nikkei staff writer

Sources say Apple has asked its assemblers to look into making iPhones in the U.S. © AP

TAIPEI -- iPhones might one day soon carry "Made in America" labels.

Key Apple assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, has been studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the U.S., sources told the Nikkei Asian Review.

"Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.," a source said. "Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns."

Foxconn, based in the gritty, industrial Tucheng district in suburban Taipei, and its smaller Taiwanese rival churn out more than 200 million iPhones annually from their massive Chinese campuses.

Another source said that while Foxconn had been working on the request from Apple Inc., its biggest customer that accounts for more than 50% of its sales, Chairman Terry Gou had been less enthusiastic due to an inevitable rise in production costs.

"Making iPhones in the U.S. means the cost will more than double," the source said.

The person added that one view among the Apple supply chain in Taiwan is that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may push the Cupertino, California-based tech titan to make a certain number of iPhone components at home.

According to research company IHS Markit, it costs about $225 for Apple to make an iPhone 7 with a 32GB memory, while the unsubsidized price for such a handset is $649.

Apple, Foxconn and Pegatron all declined to commeent


http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/Apple...-future-sources

Plus both Mexico and Canada are willing to renogiate NAFTA !

Somehow I remember the PTB and MSM chanting the mantra that such things as changing 'Free trade A
greement's' such as NAFRA and returning / keeping jobs in the US were impossible.