Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is moving ahead with plans to build two auto parts plants in Mexico despite getting previous grief from U.S. President Donald Trump over another production plant, according to reports by AFP and other outlets.
Ford’s stock was up 0.3 percent today closing at $12.58 per share, according Yahoo Finance. Ford’s stock is up 3.7 percent so far this year, according to Google Finance.
Mexico is Arizona’s top trading partner and the state has an auto supply chain sector. Arizona is also a growing hub for driverless car research including from General Motors (NYSE: GM), Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) and Google parent Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL).
“The plants, in the central state of Guanajuato and the northern city of Chihuahua, will make engines and transmissions,” according to the AFP report.
Ford ditched plans for a $1.6 billion small-car production plant after getting grief from Trump.
Trump is pushing for more manufacturing in the U.S. and has talked about a 20 percent tax on imports. He’s met with the CEOs of automakers, tech firms and other businesses at the White House.
Trump visited a Boeing (NYSE: BA) plant in South Carolina Friday promising more manufacturing jobs and tax cuts.
GM was up to $37.22 per share Friday a 0.51 percent gain. General Motors is up 6.8 percent this year, according to Google Finance.
Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA) was up 1.22 percent ending the week at $272.23, according to Yahoo Finance.