BMW says Trump tariffs will limit its US investment

BMW\'s South Carolina plant exports 70 percent of its production outside the US.

BMW says that proposed tariffs will have a negative impact on the German automaker's investments in the US.

According to Reuters, BMW's factory in Spartansburg, South Carolina is the company's largest. BMW ships 70 percent of its output to other countries, including Asia and Europe. BMW fears that the 25 percent tariff on foreign-made cars and parts that President Donald Trump fancies, will lead to retaliations from China and the EU.

In fact, BMW says that China has already imposed their own tariffs in reprisal that are hurting BMW's imports to that market. Further escalation of a trade war could significantly impact BMW's continued investment into US manufacturing and kill off US jobs.

The Reuters article quotes an excerpt of a letter written by BMW to US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, saying 'All of these factors would substantially increase the costs of exporting passenger cars to these markets from the United States and deteriorate the market access for BMW in these jurisdictions, potentially leading to strongly reduced export volumes and negative effects on investment and employment in the United States."

President Trump has used national security as the reasoning behind the tariffs. BMW addresses that in the letter as well: "The domestic manufacture of automobiles has no apparent correlation with U.S. national security."