Jim Farley Says Ford Can Deal With Trump Policy Shakeups

[akirby]

2 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

On the plus side, the market is rocketing up, and I suspect it will keep doing so for at least a few days because Trump just announced a 90 day tariffs pause on everyone working together with him. So pretty much everyone who isn't China. 

I believe I called that one.  And now they’re discussing removing their tariffs and restrictions.  All it took was motivation.

 

I’m super happy considering my boxster is sitting on a boat in the German harbor as we speak.  

[Oac98]

3 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

On the plus side, the market is rocketing up, and I suspect it will keep doing so for at least a few days because Trump just announced a 90 day tariffs pause on everyone working together with him. So pretty much everyone who isn't China. 

All part of his plan I suppose

[Rick73]

18 minutes ago, Oac98 said:

All part of his plan I suppose

Not sure I agree much of this was planned.  What I heard CNBC report was that Navarro’s hardline approach on tariffs was paused at the last minute to avert a financial crisis.  It was reported that the president changed his mind at the last minute when other senior advisors and financial/business leaders prevailed over Navarro.  Bond market sell off was the last straw.  Doesn’t sound like the mess is over yet.

[GearheadGrrrl]

Had Bloomberg on all day and even the Trump supporting execs they interviewed thought Trump had gone too far. Was good to see Trump retreat a bit, but new plants are billion dollar 50 year investments that can't be made when Trump changes his mind on tariffs every day.

[Oac98]

1 hour ago, Rick73 said:

Not sure I agree much of this was planned.  What I heard CNBC report was that Navarro’s hardline approach on tariffs was paused at the last minute to avert a financial crisis.  It was reported that the president changed his mind at the last minute when other senior advisors and financial/business leaders prevailed over Navarro.  Bond market sell off was the last straw.  Doesn’t sound like the mess is over yet.

I will keep my Trump comments to a minimum don’t want to ruffle feathers in here. Let’s hope in the end deals are reach that are fair for all. 

[Sherminator98]

45 minutes ago, GearheadGrrrl said:

Had Bloomberg on all day and even the Trump supporting execs they interviewed thought Trump had gone too far. Was good to see Trump retreat a bit, but new plants are billion dollar 50 year investments that can't be made when Trump changes his mind on tariffs every day.

 

If you go by some of the info being given out by people on China, we need to start building these plants now, not years down the road.

 

The US military is already preparing for a conflict with China in 2027/28 with the invasion of Taiwan. 

The Chinese are going to be in rough shape in the next 10 years-half their population is over the age 50 and whole host of other problems. The real question is how many people does the Chinese communist party want to give up to stay in power. 

[GearheadGrrrl]

Yes, strategically it would be great to have more factories. But will they produce a profit to pay off the bonds and please the shareholders? Probably not- Ford and many other manufacturers already have adequate capacity and building more plants than needed just soaks up CapEx that's better spent on updating and improving the product.

[rmc523]

13 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

If you go by some of the info being given out by people on China, we need to start building these plants now, not years down the road.

 

The US military is already preparing for a conflict with China in 2027/28 with the invasion of Taiwan. 

The Chinese are going to be in rough shape in the next 10 years-half their population is over the age 50 and whole host of other problems. The real question is how many people does the Chinese communist party want to give up to stay in power. 

 

All of them?  lol

[Sherminator98]

11 hours ago, GearheadGrrrl said:

Yes, strategically it would be great to have more factories. But will they produce a profit to pay off the bonds and please the shareholders? Probably not- Ford and many other manufacturers already have adequate capacity and building more plants than needed just soaks up CapEx that's better spent on updating and improving the product.

Im not talking just autos, we need pretty much everything that the Chinese are building now. 
 

One interesting thing I heard about bringing back manufacturing is normalizing relations with Cuba and using them as lower end assembly due to lower cost of living there, but seeing reports of how bad their power grid is, they would need a huge investment just to get that sorted. 
 

 

[Sherminator98]

43 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

All of them?  lol

Yeah but just think of what could possibly happen for that to occur-it’s not pleasant for the vast majority of people living in the area. 

[rmc523]

1 hour ago, Sherminator98 said:

Im not talking just autos, we need pretty much everything that the Chinese are building now. 
 

One interesting thing I heard about bringing back manufacturing is normalizing relations with Cuba and using them as lower end assembly due to lower cost of living there, but seeing reports of how bad their power grid is, they would need a huge investment just to get that sorted. 
 

 

 

Interesting idea.  I feel like leadership there would need to change, though.

 

1 hour ago, Sherminator98 said:

Yeah but just think of what could possibly happen for that to occur-it’s not pleasant for the vast majority of people living in the area. 

 

Oh of course.

[Rick73]

15 hours ago, Oac98 said:

I will keep my Trump comments to a minimum don’t want to ruffle feathers in here. Let’s hope in the end deals are reach that are fair for all. 

Also hope fair deals can be reached with everyone, though one of my concerns has been possible longer-term damage to American brands doing business globally due to latest anti-US-government sentiments. Initially thought maybe I was a little paranoid but now it’s being mentioned.  We saw what happened to Tesla sales in part due to Musk getting involved in politics, so can other American brands be affected adversely purely by association, though probably to lesser degree than Tesla?  I can only guess for now but expect we’ll find out in months, not years.  Companies like Ford, Apple, McDonald’s, etc. may experience some foreign consumer backlash.  Or not; who knows?

[Rick73]

20 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

Interesting idea.  I feel like leadership there would need to change, though.

Agree, and doesn’t seem likely.  Cuba is way too small a country to have a significant impact on US economy, not to mention they are communist like China and probably hate Americans even worse.

[Biker16]

22 hours ago, mackinaw said:

 

China needs us as much as we need them.  I suspect there are preliminary behind-the-scenes talks going on right now.  

China is investing in renewables and other tech to reduce their reliance on The ROW and the US in particular.

 

14 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

If you go by some of the info being given out by people on China, we need to start building these plants now, not years down the road.

 

The US military is already preparing for a conflict with China in 2027/28 with the invasion of Taiwan. 

The Chinese are going to be in rough shape in the next 10 years-half their population is over the age 50 and whole host of other problems. The real question is how many people does the Chinese communist party want to give up to stay in power. 

The US military is preparing to attack Iran as we speak.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14584121/Trump-Iran-stealth-bombers-direct-talks.html

Much like Russia, China's demographics give it a small window for military expansion. War would be bad for the US and Worse for China.   

 

[akirby]

2 hours ago, Rick73 said:

Also hope fair deals can be reached with everyone, though one of my concerns has been possible longer-term damage to American brands doing business globally due to latest anti-US-government sentiments. Initially thought maybe I was a little paranoid but now it’s being mentioned.  We saw what happened to Tesla sales in part due to Musk getting involved in politics, so can other American brands be affected adversely purely by association, though probably to lesser degree than Tesla?  I can only guess for now but expect we’ll find out in months, not years.  Companies like Ford, Apple, McDonald’s, etc. may experience some foreign consumer backlash.  Or not; who knows?

What’s more anti U.S. than them having tariffs on American goods?  
 

All the opponents seem to ignore all those tariffs against us.  

[Deanh]

2 hours ago, Biker16 said:

China is investing in renewables and other tech to reduce their reliance on The ROW and the US in particular.

 

The US military is preparing to attack Iran as we speak.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14584121/Trump-Iran-stealth-bombers-direct-talks.html

Much like Russia, China's demographics give it a small window for military expansion. War would be bad for the US and Worse for China.   

 

China also apparently constructs a Coal plant every 2-3 weeks...renewables may just be to appease the clean air and Climate nazis...

[Oac98]

3 hours ago, Rick73 said:

Also hope fair deals can be reached with everyone, though one of my concerns has been possible longer-term damage to American brands doing business globally due to latest anti-US-government sentiments. Initially thought maybe I was a little paranoid but now it’s being mentioned.  We saw what happened to Tesla sales in part due to Musk getting involved in politics, so can other American brands be affected adversely purely by association, though probably to lesser degree than Tesla?  I can only guess for now but expect we’ll find out in months, not years.  Companies like Ford, Apple, McDonald’s, etc. may experience some foreign consumer backlash.  Or not; who knows?

You’re absolutely correct that there is a growing anti us government sentiment. I believe even as far as our products some people who usually drive one of the American brands will choose a different brand now. Travel is down from Canada I know that much. I won’t be driving across the border anytime soon just to get harassed, F THAT. So whether it be Canada or wherever, there’s certainly gonna be backlash. I know for one Canada never stole any jobs. Ford, GM and I’ll call them Chrysler have been in Canada for over  100 years. We have a tiny footprint here so what’s the big deal. Ford doesn’t even have a vehicle to ship to the US right now lol from Canada. Parts yes.  

[jpd80]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

What’s more anti U.S. than them having tariffs on American goods?  
 

All the opponents seem to ignore all those tariffs against us.  

Yes, on that I agree but the formula being used is all about trade imbalance

and that imbalance is being portrayed as some sort of unfairness…

Help me understand,

The whole point of USA importing things is to get them at lower prices, I find it

difficult to see how the current shear will of reversing the loss  of manufacturing

will do anything more than usher in a new era of protectionism where Americans

pay even higher prices just to say, made in America. Maybe that means a lot to folks?

I just heard on the news,

With the new Chinese tariffs, the guy who started Home Depot is losing his mind

today (and probably his shirt)

Edited April 10 by jpd80

[ANTAUS]

17 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

Yes, on that I agree but the formula being used is all about trade imbalance

and that imbalance is being portrayed as some sort of unfairness…

Help me understand,

The whole point of USA importing things is to get them at lower prices, I find it

difficult to see how the current shear will of reversing the loss  of manufacturing

will do anything more than usher in a new era of protectionism where Americans

pay even higher prices just to say, made in America. Maybe that means a lot to folks?

I just heard on the news,

With the new Chinese tariffs, the guy who started Home Depot is losing his mind

today (and probably his shirt)

 

I'm at Home Depot daily because of my rental homes or my own home I'm usually playing with (building a putt putt course in my backyard now), and I will confirm it's been pretty slow the last 3 weeks.  Too many employees hanging around, the contractor's desk is just as dead, to me that's my personal gauge something "isn't right"....

[Flying68]

The only way large scale mfg comes back to the US is if the cost to produce is competitive on the global scale.  You can't build a factory to build only for the US, except for specific markets where the US is 75% of the world consumption (not including industrial equipment).  If mfg does come back the jobs really won't.  Any new plants are going to be highly automated and the jobs won't be "no degree Joe" installing parts, they will be the technical maintenance and engineering / plant management jobs filled by college grads and technical school grads.

[HotRunrGuy]

On 4/9/2025 at 3:06 PM, jpd80 said:

Clearly the president can move markets with an announcement.

And while the media talks about the last thing he did, Trump stuns

with his next move that sets the stock market soaring.

 

It sure makes for interesting times as people breathe

a sigh of relief as their pension plans look to bounce back

 

Honestly, somebody needs to go to prison with the market manipulation going on. I hope behind the scenes those who can are looking at the buy/sell activity in the hour or 2 before a tweet goes out.

 

HRG

[Rick73]

2 hours ago, akirby said:

What’s more anti U.S. than them having tariffs on American goods?  
 

All the opponents seem to ignore all those tariffs against us.  

Not sure if you think I’m an opponent, but for clarity, I am 100% behind reducing deficit and debt, bringing good jobs back to US, increasing manufacturing to promote self reliance and thus national security, limiting government size and spending, etc.  These are all great goals IMO but ideally should be accomplished properly to minimize pain.  Many things accomplished correctly can be great, yet done poorly can be worse than not doing anything at all.

 

I agree with your previous comments that tariffs can be beneficial, but turning allies into enemies right off the bat seems shortsighted to me.  You ask what is more anti American?  Hopefully nothing, and tariffs are indeed worst case scenario, but what if it leads to global financial crisis, or domestic inflation that is out of control, or very worst case scenario of war?  Of these the most likely pushback IMO is anti-American sentiments that affect our global businesses, credibility, and trust in our financial system.  Personally don’t see need to start negotiations, especially with allies, using harsh and dangerous rhetoric that’s infuriating to the other side unless you have so much leverage over them that you’re guaranteed a victory.  I’m just suggesting that we try winning tariff battles while keeping friends on our side.

[Sherminator98]

2 hours ago, Rick73 said:

I agree with your previous comments that tariffs can be beneficial, but turning allies into enemies right off the bat seems shortsighted to me.  You ask what is more anti American?  Hopefully nothing, and tariffs are indeed worst case scenario, but what if it leads to global financial crisis, or domestic inflation that is out of control, or very worst case scenario of war?  Of these the most likely pushback IMO is anti-American sentiments that affect our global businesses, credibility, and trust in our financial system.  Personally don’t see need to start negotiations, especially with allies, using harsh and dangerous rhetoric that’s infuriating to the other side unless you have so much leverage over them that you’re guaranteed a victory.  I’m just suggesting that we try winning tariff battles while keeping friends on our side.

 

So here is the problem with all of this-people are fed information from their media about the United States and Trump has been a lightning rod of negative attention for years now...good bad or indifferent. I know random people in the EU that complain about Trump (without being prompted by me) and its a regurgitation of what they've seen from the media, which has its own agenda...but that is whole another story.  

 

People are equating Trump=USA. People also feel powerless because they think the USA has this outsized influence over their country (real or managed) and vent about it. 

 

Much of what is being done is stereotypical Trump's Art of the Deal style, which is further infuriating people. 

 

People are dumb/stupid/assholes and just react to what is feed/given to them, instead of trying to be analytical and actually thinking about what is going on. But no the media just sells everything as a kneejerk reaction.

Anyways-what has been going on is change of style in how the US policy is being done (once again good/bad/indifferent) and removal of the status que that some people feel like that the US might have been getting taken advantage of by certain individuals or even groups. 

 

How much is actually changes won't be known till long after Trump is out of office.  

 

[akirby]

3 hours ago, Rick73 said:

Not sure if you think I’m an opponent, but for clarity, I am 100% behind reducing deficit and debt, bringing good jobs back to US, increasing manufacturing to promote self reliance and thus national security, limiting government size and spending, etc.  These are all great goals IMO but ideally should be accomplished properly to minimize pain.  Many things accomplished correctly can be great, yet done poorly can be worse than not doing anything at all.

 

I agree with your previous comments that tariffs can be beneficial, but turning allies into enemies right off the bat seems shortsighted to me.  You ask what is more anti American?  Hopefully nothing, and tariffs are indeed worst case scenario, but what if it leads to global financial crisis, or domestic inflation that is out of control, or very worst case scenario of war?  Of these the most likely pushback IMO is anti-American sentiments that affect our global businesses, credibility, and trust in our financial system.  Personally don’t see need to start negotiations, especially with allies, using harsh and dangerous rhetoric that’s infuriating to the other side unless you have so much leverage over them that you’re guaranteed a victory.  I’m just suggesting that we try winning tariff battles while keeping friends on our side.

So without reciprocal tariffs what leverage do we have to get other countries to give us a more fair trade agreement?  Without leverage there is no negotiating.  And tariffs hit them in their pocketbooks which is most effective.

 

The other countries won’t let it go that far.  They’ve already asked to negotiate and promised concessions.  The only one that is in any danger of a prolonged battle is China and that’s a completely separate and far more complicated issue.

 

 

[akirby]

5 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Yes, on that I agree but the formula being used is all about trade imbalance

and that imbalance is being portrayed as some sort of unfairness…

Help me understand,

The whole point of USA importing things is to get them at lower prices, I find it

difficult to see how the current shear will of reversing the loss  of manufacturing

will do anything more than usher in a new era of protectionism where Americans

pay even higher prices just to say, made in America. Maybe that means a lot to folks?

I just heard on the news,

With the new Chinese tariffs, the guy who started Home Depot is losing his mind

today (and probably his shirt)

Some countries restrict US imports and/or make it difficult to do business there in addition to tariffs, while they freely export to the U.S.  That’s the unbalance.

 

Yes, making more stuff in the U.S. may raise prices but some of the cost savings from cheap foreign production just goes to extra profits not increased prices.  But yes there is some trade off with higher prices for some things but the up side is more jobs and more products to export.  Once one company outsources cheap labor then they all have to do it to stay competitive and stay profitable.

 

Perhaps more importantly it makes us more self sufficient.  Being too dependent on foreign products is a huge problem as we saw during Covid.  Nobody including the imports have a problem building cars here and selling them profitably.