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Toyota Group Invests $791 Million in Texas as Trade Deal Nears

Toyota Invests $391 Million in Texas as Trump, Abe Finalize Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. and one of its top suppliers will invest a combined $791 million in Texas to build next-generation pickups as part of a drive to boost output in the U.S. and ease trade tensions with the Trump administration.

The announcement Toyota is plugging $391 million into its San Antonio truck factory comes six months after the automaker pledged to shell out an additional $3 billion on its U.S. operations by 2021, a move seen as an effort to head off threatened U.S. tariffs on vehicles imported from Japan. That was on top of an earlier $10 billion pledge Toyota made shortly before President Donald Trump took office.

Toyota Group Invests $791 Million in Texas as Trade Deal Nears

“We view it as a tremendous vote of confidence in Texas and San Antonio and the truck market” in the U.S., Christopher Reynolds, the chief administrative officer and head of manufacturing for Toyota in North America, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

The spending is part of Toyota’s multi-decade production-localization drive, but also reflects a strategy to convince Trump not to follow through on tariffs of as much as 25% on imported vehicles and parts. The Japanese carmaker has publicly pushed back on the administration’s claim that foreign automakers pose a national security risk to the U.S.

What’s at Stake and at Risk in U.S.-Japan Trade Talks: QuickTake

Following a months-long probe, the administration in May cleared the way for tariffs on imported cars and components. But the White House has put off imposing them while it pursues trade deals with Japan and the European Union.

President Trump on Monday said the U.S. will reach an initial trade deal with Japan in the coming weeks, but made no mention of his threat of duties on $50 billion worth of Japanese autos. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s camp has warned any final deal must include assurances that Washington won’t hit the country’s car sector with new duties.

‘Advanced Technologies’ Coming

Toyota said it’s San Antonio announcement isn’t linked to the trade talks between the U.S. and Japan.

“We don’t make these investment decisions based on what the current trade scenario is,” Reynolds said. “When we make this kind of investment, we’re looking at where we think the market will be in 20 years from now, regardless of what the trade flows might be under this agreement or that agreement.”

No new direct jobs were announced for the truck factory, which employs more than 3,000 workers. Toyota said the funds will be used to incorporate “various advanced technologies” on the production lines for the Tacoma and Tundra pickups.

But the automaker said an affiliate of one of its close-knit suppliers, Aisin Seiki Co., will hire 900 workers for a new $400 million auto-parts production facility in a San Antonio suburb. Toyota group companies own nearly 39% of Aisin and its president is a former senior executive at the carmaker.

Toyota doesn’t count investments made by group companies as part of its $13 investment pledge to the U.S. But the automaker’s public policy team has showcased Japanese supplier investments on social media.

Best-Selling Truck

Toyota has had difficulty supplying dealers enough trucks to meet demand. The company also makes the Tacoma at a plant in Tijuana, Mexico, and plans to build the model at another plant that’s under construction in Guanajuato.

The full-size Tundra is only made in San Antonio. Next year, it’s expected to undergo its first full model change since 2007. Future iterations of both trucks will share a common underpinning platform, the trade publication Automotive News reported earlier this year.

The Tacoma has been the best-selling mid-size truck in the U.S. for the past 14 years, but Toyota’s lock on the segment is being challenged by rivals. General Motors Co. launched a pair of mid-size pickups in 2014, and Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV have debuted competing models this year.

--With assistance from Ed Ludlow.

To contact the reporters on this story: Chester Dawson in Southfield at cdawson54@bloomberg.net;David Westin in New York at dwestin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net

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