Ford Says Trump’s Metal Tariffs Have Already Cost It $1 Billion In Profit

Ford chief executive Jim Hackett has revealed the extent to which President Donald Trump’s tariffs have impacted its bottom line.

During an interview with Bloomberg Television, Hackett said that the longer the tariffs remain in place, the more damage they will cause.

“The metals tariffs took about $1 billion in profit from us – and the irony is we source most of that in the U.S. today anyways. If it goes on longer, there will be more damage.”

In August, Ford’s president for global markets, Jim Farley, said that Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs were “a significant headwind” for the company. Not only are they reducing profits, but Trump’s tariffs forced Ford to cancel plans of importing the Focus Active crossover from China into the United States.

According to Hackett, it is vitally important for a new North American Free Trade Agreement to be agreed upon as quickly as possible. Additionally, the United States needs to solve its ongoing trade dispute with China, The Detroit News reports.

“What we’re urging our administration to do – where we’re in China and in Europe – we say, you need to come to agreement quickly.

“Business, you hear them talk about, they count on certainty. In this case, we’re kind of frozen. A lot of businesses aren’t sure and that’s not good,” Hackett said.

Ford return $7.6 billion in net income for 2017, its best result since 2013. However, analysts expect Ford’s profits to take a dive by 29 per cent this year, triggering an $11 billion restructuring effort from the automaker to improve margins.