The Trump administration’s trade agenda has sent waves through the global automotive manufacturing landscape. Most car companies, including GM, are dependent on foreign manufacturing, especially on lower-priced vehicles, to help make them both affordable and profitable. A 25 percent tariff on all cars imported to the United States could change that. According to a report in The Detroit News, such changes could come very soon.
“If the U.S. tariffs remain in place, GM will no longer have any reason to stay in South Korea,” said South Korean automotive engineering professor Lee Ho-guen. “The tariffs may add up to $10,000 to the sticker price on cars shipped to the U.S., while GM sells less than 50,000 units a year in South Korea. There is very little room for them to adjust their strategy.”
However, despite the challenges that come with moving manufacturing across international borders, Lee thinks it’s likely that General Motors will stop building USDM cars in Korea in the near future. “At some point after the next two years, I believe it’s highly likely GM will leave and keep only their research and development unit here, or at least significantly cut back on their production,” Lee said.
Labor union official Kim Woong-heon spoke on how hard it is to move manufacturing to the other side of the world without any major disruptions or delays. “The cars we’re manufacturing [in Korea] are on the lowest end of GM’s price range, so labor costs will make it impossible to immediately shift production to the U.S.,” he said. He’s referring to GM’s subcompact crossovers; the Chevy Trax, Chevy Trailblazer, Buick Envista, and Buick Encore GX. Notably, the Trax has been South Korea’s most exported car since 2023.
But will it be worth it for General Motors to continue building and marketing cars within the borders of South Korea? This is also unclear, given the almost ubiquitous dominance of domestic Korean cars in the country. As GM Authority has reported, GM sales decreased in Korea by 41 percent in the first quarter of 2025, leaving The General with about a one-percent market share compared to Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, which, combined, account for more than 90 percent of all new car sales in South Korea.
General Motors has made no official statements regarding any plans to change its Korean manufacturing. “We do not intend to respond to rumors about the company’s exit from Korea,” said Gustavo Colossi, GM Korea’s vice president of sales, at a news conference last month. “We plan to move forward with our sales strategies in Korea and continue launching new models in the coming weeks and months, introducing fresh GM offerings to the market.”
Comments
Impeach Trump now! This Tariff madness and insane idea we should bring manufacturing back to the US must be stopped ASAP!
Are you an idiot or a Democrat
Well there’s two Democrats/idiots, that want to spar with an American.
No, he’s not right—you are an idiot.
What Trump is doing is (1) illegal, since the tariff authority he’s using was only meant for genuine national emergencies, and there’s no credible emergency here. The justification is flimsy at best. And (2) these tariffs are a massive tax hike—arguably the largest in modern U.S. history—directly hitting American consumers and businesses.
What’s worse is the contradiction in you Trump supporter’s argument. You want manufacturing to “return to the U.S.,” but then cheer for a policy that supposedly exists only to pressure other countries into trade deals. So which is it? If the tariffs are just temporary leverage, then clearly Trump doesn’t care about actually restoring long-term U.S. manufacturing. And if you think no company should import anything into the U.S., then congratulations—you’re arguing against capitalism, not for it.
You can’t have it both ways, and the cognitive dissonance is exhausting to watch.
Trump is trying to level the playing field. Countries put up barrier after barrier including tariffs to keep US product out. Trump is trying to force countries to open up their market to US products.
The effective tariff rate on US imports into South Korea is 0.79% following the “KORUS FT” agreement of 2012. Ours is 25% on South Korea. That’s the opposite of leveling the playing field.
Seth, we just had four years of the walking dead in the White House that was an emergency.
He’s both…..lol.
Would you rather have manufacturing leave the United States?
Drowning in liberal tears!
The reason GM vehicles don’t sell well in Korea is that their model replacement cycle is excessively long, and they do almost nothing in terms of marketing for the Korean market. Moreover, GM has reduced the number of Chevrolet dealerships in Korea by half over the past four years. (And it’s not as if they’re actively pursuing online sales like Tesla.) Additionally, Chevrolet only sells two vehicle models in Korea—excluding the imported American models with exorbitant maintenance costs. It is no surprise that their market share in Korea is below 1%.
On the other hand, Korea holds significant value as a production base for North American exports. However, if Trump’s tariff policies remain in place, this value may become uncertain. Still, it is unclear whether relocating factories to the U.S. would be a better option.
Bottom line, gm has nobody to blame but themselves. Barra thought she was being cute offshoring production to low-wage nations- as well as the engineering and research and development. Now it biting her in the backside.
There is absolutely no reason why the Trax, Trailblazer, Encore, and Envista cannot be built in the United States. The GM of old would have found a way to leverage the economies of scale to be able to produce these lower-cost vehicles at a modest profit. For example, add a Chevrolet version of the Envista, and come up with a GMC version of the Trax and Trailblazer.
Don’t blame the union as a lot of people like to do. I am sure if gm went to Sean Fain and said they were going to give you 20,000 new members if you make a concession on the starting wage he would not turn that offer down.
I’m certainly not in favor of these tariffs BUT, your comment about Shawn caving is debatable. With the absurd UAW wages currently in place, the price of these being made in the US might not be all that different.
Pretty clear a LOT of members in here work for GM in the US…
The way your post seems to indicate that the UAW wages are the problem, or at least part of the problem, yet people like you that bash the UAW workers seem to never mention the outlandish compensation of management. Example Mary received $29.5 million dollars in compensation last year. Let that sink in, that was just her, I imagine the similar compensation was received by upper management also. One bit of information, my brother-in-law who was in management of Ford, told me that management would receive similar raises in compensation as the union workers, after new contracts, so they didn’t complain. Remember the people that do the actual work on the floor are the ones that some people like to blame for the high prices of vehicles, it’s not entirely their fault, seems like management takes an equal amount of blame.
Now back to the subject of the insane tariffs of Don the Con, they are ruining the American economy, along with the insane tax cuts of the billionaire/millionaires, that make up 1% of taxpayers yet they received 70% of the benefits of the tax cuts. I have yet to see any of that trickle down tax cut from tRump’s tax cuts of 2017. My 401K can’t stand too much more of tRump’s economic policies. How do you spell a tRump recession?
I’m not bashing the UAW workers and I agree that Barra et al are not worth the compensation they get when their respective companies are run so are so poorly. Every vehicle I have ever owned has been union built either in the United States or Canada
My point regarding the starting wage has to do with the notion that these vehicles cannot be made in the US at a profit. Just as when GM was building the Sonic at Orion, there may have to be a special arrangement at the plants that builds these vehicles to make a business case.
You are a true G.M. You make great comments based on facts. Not imaginary
totally false claims. By people who do not bother to educate themselves or do any
research. They just want to get there 15 minutes of fame. They think people will be
impressed with their knowledge. Not talking about tigger( hold dat tiger). electro24 (shocking) b_tchy ( at it again). seth ( who is da idiot??) tigger ( plays both ends against da middle?) The men inside their brains driving dem insane??)
Why would gm need to be able to make a profit on these cars? Products like the Envista have historically been low profit, entry level vehicles that serve as a gateway to attract young buyers just starting out who will, in theory, later purchase larger, more profitable gm vehicles throughout the remainder of their lifespan. What doesn’t make sense is not losing or making little money on a Trax or Envista but to be losing so much money on Cadillacs. Probably the only really profitable Cadillac is the Escalade with much smaller margins on CT4/5. Every other Cadillac is losing cash and being propped up by the Express van, the Silverado, and the Tahoe/Suburban. Cadillac was once where gm made money with older buyers to support the Vega or the Cobalt for young buyers but that’s been turned on its head with EVs.