Toyota defends new plant in Mexico, says it will not affect U.S. jobs

After U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened Toyota with a “big border tax” for Corolla's manufactured in Mexico and exported to the U.S., Toyota has responded by saying that its new plant in Guanajuato will not affect U.S. jobs.

“Production volume or employment in the U.S. will not decrease as a result of our new plant in Guanajuato, Mexico announced in April 2015,” said Toyota in a press statement it shared on its social media.

“Toyota looks forward to collaborating with the Trump Administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry,” the statement continued.

Company officials also said that in 2015, it exported over 160 thousand U.S.-made vehicles to 40 different countries, helping make the country one of the biggest exporting countries in the world.

In addition, company officials said that the plant in Baja California was built in 2002 to complement a plant in San Antonio, Texas that employs 3,300 people and made over 230,000 Tundra and Tacoma trucks in 2016.

It's also invested in recent years: 360 million dollars in its Georgetown, Kentucky plant; 150 million in its Hunstville, Alabama plant; 100 million in its Princeton, Indiana plant; and 90 million in its Buffalo, West Virginia plant.