GM confident it can mitigate tariffs

If tariffs proposed by the Trump administration materialize and directly impact the automotive industry, General Motors believes its experience dealing with past crises will help it find solutions, CFO Paul Jacobson said Wednesday.

“We can’t be surprised where we are today,” Jacobson said at an investor conference. Throughout the campaign, President Donald Trump indicated a priority was to address the U.S. trade deficit. Since taking office, he has announced tariffs on imports from select countries, as well as on raw materials including aluminum and steel, and now a 25% duty on automotive imports.

“I think the president started talking about this in November,” Jacobson said. That immediately triggered GM to prepare for policy shifts that could disrupt its supply chain.

Early steps included reducing inventory held at its international plants by 30%, he said. Achieving this involved working with logistics partners to quickly move products before any tariffs were imposed.

“The last thing you want is a bunch of unfinished inventory that just suddenly became 25% more expensive just with the passage of time,” Jacobson said.

GM’s ability to react quickly to rapidly changing business conditions emerged from lessons …