In response to the Trump administration’s threat of a tariff as high as 25 percent on all cars imported to the United States, GM Korea’s labor union leaders will visit GM officials in Detroit to seek clarity on new trade policies and what they mean for international General Motors factories.
“Employees are anxious” that General Motors might reduce South Korean manufacturing, Korean Metal Workers’ Union chapter chairman Ahn Kyu-baek told The Detroit News. “We want to know what management are going to do if tariffs are realized.”
In addition to GM officials, Korean union representatives will also meet with UAW president Shawn Fain to discuss the situation. The UAW said in a statement earlier this month that it’s in “active negotiations” with the Trump administration to reverse the “free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class.”
General Motors sells many crossovers in the U.S. that are built in South Korea. The Chevy Trax is built at the Changwon plant, while the Chevy Trailblazer, Buick Encore GX, and Buick Envista are all shipped into North America from the Bupyeong plant. The grand total number of vehicles GM built in Korea and shipped to the States in 2024 is nearly 500,000.
The second-generation Chevy Trax and new-for-2024 Buick Envista are such a hit that they’ve made GM the best-selling automaker of subcompact SUVs in the U.S. The Chevy Trax alone has surpassed the Subaru Crosstrek and Honda HR-V as the segment’s best-seller, selling just over 200,000 units in the U.S. in 2024. According to the most recent data, approximately 27 percent of all subcompact crossovers sold in the U.S. are GM models. The significant sales volume of these small utility vehicles makes General Motors particularly dependent on Korean imports.
The most recent comments from President Trump signal a tariff on all automobiles imported to the U.S. as high as 25 percent being enacted on April 2nd, 2025. So far during Trump’s second term, some tariffs have officially gone into effect while others have been put on hold pending negotiations with trade partners.
Comments
This is what LEADERS do, they negotiate, they communicate, they let the world know that the United States of America is a super power, and they won’t be used or taken advantage of anymore!
Trump is a punk.
How is your 401k doing lately? Millions of Americans are worried right now about their investments.
My 3 accounts were up a total of 32k today.
Joe G.
You forgot to mention how your account lost over $30,000 each day the market was down prior to your 36,000 gain.
Not retiring until 2050. So I don’t care. By then, I’d rather still have a functioning, vibrant, and free country for my son and his family to thrive in than one with a hollowed out economy and industrial base no thanks to previous leaders allowing our jobs to be sent to adversaries.
85ZingoGTR,
That is what every American should want.
Unfortunately that’s hard to accomplish when our elected politicians main concern is themselves, and keeping their easy overpaid jobs, and lining their pockets.
Gone are the days that our elected politicians actually care about the people.
Now they just care about themselves, and how to keep getting re-elected.
That is largely accomplished by telling voters what they want to hear, regardless if there is any truth to it, or even feasible. When it comes to politicians you are better served if you believe nothing of what you hear and half of what you see.
By the year 2050 I will be long gone.
I hope for the hoi polloi – common people, that better days are ahead.
Clean air, clean water, a stable economy with stable good paying jobs.
Endeavor to persevere,
John Z.
Oh I don’t disagree. I grew up in a democrat household and my problem is I came to that realization from this party in recent years. I grew up with the false notion they were the party of the working class but now realize their policies are just as costly and toxic to us serving special interest groups. It became even more clear in the local level here in NJ and NY where the party runs rampant with no opposition anymore not like when I was growing up where a republican can easily win (grew up with Pataki as governor and Giuliani as NYC mayor) so they actually had to try to care.
The republicans, I already expected them not to care for the middle class. So in my eyes, they were always the party for the rich since Reagan.
We reached a point where you pick your poison. As far as I’m concerned, both parties aren’t fighting with each other, they are at war with the middle class rubbing shoulders with each other while destroying them. And after watching the petty behavior from the left during Trumps last state of the union address made me more certain of my third party vote. My tribalistic left leaning wife can tell me I wasted my vote but no I didn’t. Both sides had nothing to show for other than the same lies. And if we keep voting for either of these parties, the country will continue down this hole.
Then the Koreans can drop their 10% across the board tarrifs and look at lowering their 10-30% selective tarrifs on US cars/equipment/electronics and clothing.
You guys are dimented if you think one country can supply all of it’s manufacturing needs. Truely a senile leadership that needs to be taken out rapidly.
Trump never discusses anything with anybody. He thinks he is the king and all he has to do is give orders and everyone will obey.
Zed06,
That is how narcissists are.
They know more about everything than anybody.
Trump publicly stated on TV that he knows more than all of the generals.
That’s really reaching, coming from a coward and draft dodger.
Trump is a morally bankrupt, narcissistic, pathological liar.
Interesting that many economists are now predicting a recession that is a result of Donnie boy’s tariffs. Very few people will be buying new vehicles when that happens.
You and several other have ‘suggested’ that ‘very few’ people will be buying. Historically speaking, the market follows the general ‘feel’ of the economy. The lowest number of units sold in the last 20 years was 2009, with over 10 million sales in the USA. Last year was 15.9 million.
If there is a recession will number of units sold go down? Sure. But to say ‘very few’ will be buying is naive at best. And to the ones saying ‘nobody will be buying these $150k vehicles in this economy’ – typically people buying $150k vehicle are more insulated from economic downturns than say the family of four surviving on $60k a year.
jeffhoutx84,
There is some truth in what you say.
Americans are notorious for living above their means.
A recent report from the Federal Reserve stated that in the 4th quarter of 2024 credit card debt stood at over 18 trillion dollars.
Late payment for vehicle loans are at an all-time high.
Bank foreclosures on mortgages are on the rise also, and that’s with an unemployment rate of just 4.1%.
These numbers will skyrocket if the economy tanks, an unemployment rises.
@John Z
And who caused all of this!! Biden and the last administration!! Trump is trying to correct 4 years of utter chaos!! But the media and libs will spin it on Trump and blame him, when the past 4 years they said nothing is wrong with the economy, houses, groceries, vehicles, insurance. Ya right. Always the other guys fault. Typical liberal
TNTSIERRA,
President Biden spent his presidency cleaning up Trump’s mess and dealing with a worldwide pandemic, covid-19.
Historically the average unemployment rate in the US from 1948 to 2025 is aprox. 5.6%
The unemployment rate at this present time is 4.1%. It looks like Trump inherited a below average unemployment rate. We will have to see where he takes it.
Wrong Suzy……….. your idiot president did.
jeffhoutx84,
When I was young you were looked down upon if you had to use credit to pay for anything other than a house or a vehicle.
Now people see credit as a status symbol.
The Federal Reserve also reported in the 4th quarter of 2024 the APR on the unpaid balance of credit cards was an average of 22.8%.
Most people today don’t understand the concept of saving for something. It’s all about immediate gratification. They want what they want, and they want it now.
Most Americans have no emergency savings.
If they are out of work for a couple of months their whole house of cards collapses.
There is no one to blame but themselves.
I spent my working years in the auto industry,
GM-UAW.
The economy is cyclical. When the economy is bad the first things to take a hit are houses and vehicle sales.
Free trade for thee, but not for me. Not anymore. We want fair trade!
Eric,
Good luck with that.
What’s fair is in the eye of the beholder.
What someone considers fair, another one may not.
The North American Free Trade Agreement that tRump negotiated during his first mess, that he called the best trade agreement ever, he now claims it is the worst agreement ever, so guess Don the Con can’t make up his mind, so now the citizens of the country will suffer from his confused mind.
@ GMguy
Give me facts on how Trumps first term from 2016-2020 was so bad? Facts not feelings please
Like Biden, Trump added over 4 Trillion dollars to the national debt. Easy for the economy to look good when you deficit spend. Trump wants to eliminate the cap on debt and is currently asking for a 4 Trillion dollar increase in the debt ceiling.
Trump added 7.8 trillion to the national debt 🙄
The Loser lied about Covid. Then the Idiot said it would go away in warm weather. The Dummy couldn’t even get the vaccine delivered Joe had to do it.
Your totally lost.
Democrats and Faucci created covid in a lab and you fools still think it was Trumps fault. You’re so lost and ignorant.
TNTSIERRA,
Drink bleach, or shine a bright light down your throat, or take Ivermectin, a livestock dewormer.
These were Trump’s suggestions to handle the worldwide covid-19 pandemic.
These are clearly not well thought out presidential decisions.
When Trump lost re-election he spent the next 4 years whining- lying how the election was stolen. His con worked. His supporters believed him.
Trump is still conning you now.
It’s almost laughable that you can’t see it.
Don’t want to see it.
Don’t want to admit it. Sad.
One thing is certain. They will build them in South Korea, but certainly buy very few for their home market.
Davy,
South Korea is classified as a high income developed Nation.
Absolutely Davey. Koreans do not buy gm cars. They want our free military protection on the Northern border and to ship cars here duty free. what a great deal for them.
GM Korea? Aren’t they the same people that gave the court ruling for the GM Korea CEO from the US to be under house arrest for some bogus claims? Trump should them to get bent and pound sand. What they did is no different from the CCP Red China gangsters!
It’s simple. Don’t allow pissy-assed foreign tin cans with an American nameplate slapped on them to be sold here in America! Insist that the cars be built here by real Americans! Have the Koreans build cars sold in Korea.
Here are some facts TNT. trump promised to eliminate Affordable Care Act in 2017, with a better plan. FAILED. Promised to build a big beautiful wall on the southern border. FAILED. Promised to have Mexico pay for it. FAILED. Promised to eliminate deficit spending. FAILED. Added 7.8 trillion in debt. Said COVID would go away over night. FALSE. Who would let a knuckle dragging retard that filed bankruptcy 6 times with 34 felony convictions manage their portfolio?
Build them here Build the Americans work force back to work
If they stop tariffing US built vehicles there would be no issue.