Donald Trump has tweeted that car company Toyota will face hefty tariffs in America on cars built in Mexico.
President-elect Trump took to social media to state the Japanese car maker will face a “big border tax” if it continues with its plans to build cars south of the American border.
Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017
Following the tweet, and shortly before the New York markets closed on Thursday, the company’s US listed shares dropped 0.7% hitting a low of $120.32.
The dramatic fall in the share price came just five minutes after Trump’s tweet about them.
In a statement to Reuters, Toyota said the plant would not affect its US employment and added that it:Â “looks forward to collaborating with the Trump administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry.”
It is the second time this week that Trump has gone after car manufacturers by giving a separate ultimatum to General Motors to produce their Chevy in the US or else face heavy border taxes.
General Motors only imports hatchback versions of its of the Cruze car from Mexico with the majority of their American vehicles produced in Ohio.
Ford has also been on Trump’s raider and following intense pressure, the company cancelled plans to build its Mexican plant, although they insisted that President-elect Trump did not influence their decision.
The NAFTA free trade agreement as well as lower labour costs makes Mexico an attractive place for car companies to produce cars.
But Trump has vowed to end this practice as he stated that it is costing American jobs.
