Trump says businesses that moved to Korea, other countries are 'coming back home'

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that auto and other businesses that moved to Korea, Japan and other foreign countries are returning to the United States as he touted his administration’s efforts to revive U.S. manufacturing through tariffs and other measures.

Trump made the remarks during a visit to a General Motors facility in Milford, Michigan, and reiterated that if automakers build their products in the United States, they will face no tariffs.

“We are building more plants than anybody in the world, and frankly, the businesses are all moving. Many of these businesses [...] left here, and they went to foreign countries,” he said.

“They went to Germany. They went to Mexico. They went to Japan. They went to Korea. Car businesses, a lot of businesses, and now they are coming back home where they belong,” he continued.

Trump defended his use of tariffs to reduce the United States’ trade deficit and strengthen its manufacturing.

“I placed historic tariffs on foreign producers and manufacturers, including a 25 percent tariff on foreign automobiles — something that no other president had the courage to ever do,” he said.

He restated that companies that make their cars in the United States pay “zero tariffs.”

“If you build in a factory in Michigan or someplace in our country, and make your automobiles or trucks right here in America, you pay zero taxes, zero tariffs,” he said.

Yonhap