Toyota has become the latest car manufacturer to be threatened with a “big border tax” by Donald Trump for building vehicles in Mexico.

In a Twitter post the President-elect threatened to take action if the firm makes its Corolla model for the US market at a plant south of the border.

It is the latest broadside against the industry, after Mr Trump took aim at General Motors earlier this week over its production in Mexico.

It is also the first against a non-US company.

Ford, meanwhile, has cancelled plans for a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) plant in Mexico after criticism from Mr Trump. Although it is still planning to shift production of small cars to Mexico from Michigan.

The President-elect’s attacks have cast a shadow over cross-border production networks central to more than $580bn (£470bn) in trade between the two countries.

They have also sent the Mexican peso plunging to record lows, prompting the country’s central bank to step in, at the same time as it is facing public unrest over surging petrol prices.

Toyota, which announced in April 2015 plans to build a $1bn (£800m) plant in the Mexican city of Guanajuato, said it would not take away US jobs.

A spokesman said the company “looks forward to collaborating with the Trump administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry”.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Mobile, Alabama

Donald Trump has previously warned US firms about moving jobs abroad

Mr Trump’s tweet appeared to confuse Toyota’s existing plant, in Baja California, with the planned site in Guanajuato.

The plant in Baja California produces around 100,000 pick-up trucks and truck beds a year.

Toyota’s Guanajuato plant will build up to 200,000 Corollas a year from 2019, shifting production from Canada.

The Japanese firm’s president Akio Toyoda said, before Mr Trump’s tweet, that it had no immediate plans to cut production in Mexico.

He said: “We will consider our option as we see what policies the incoming president adopts.”

Source: Sky News

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