Bloomberg: Ford pitched China-style JV mannequin to Trump admin

Ford Chief Government Jim Farley has mentioned with Trump administration officers a possible roadmap for Chinese language automakers to provide automobiles within the US by means of joint ventures with native counterparts. Based on a Bloomberg report, the framework would require US automakers to personal a controlling stake within the JV, with each companions sharing earnings and know-how.

Sources informed the outlet that Farley spoke with US Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Environmental Safety Company Administrator Lee Zeldin once they visited the Detroit Auto Present in January. The discussions got here across the similar time that President Donald Trump indicated he could also be prepared to permit Chinese language automakers into the US on the supply they construct native crops and rent US employees. Nevertheless, no resolution has been made and the discussions have been characterised as casual and preliminary.

Trump officers have been mentioned to have given the idea a chilly reception. Nevertheless, some administration officers apparently view such an funding deal as a attainable end result of Trump’s deliberate April assembly with Chinese language President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The framework is actually a mirror picture of what China required of Western automakers three a long time in the past once they needed to associate with Chinese language automakers to ascertain factories within the nation.

Fellow Detroit OEM Normal Motors was decidedly much less enthused in regards to the concept, telling the Trump administration that it opposes Chinese language entry to the US market. The argument was easy: present firms would lose market share and a move of elements from China may devastate North American suppliers. Ford Chief Communications Officer Mark Truby mentioned the corporate’s discussions with the Trump administration have constantly emphasised “the necessity to defend our house market from a flood of subsidised automobiles in-built China” whereas reiterating the perceived privateness and nationwide safety points related to Chinese language automobiles.

Regardless of this, Ford more and more finds itself related to Chinese language automakers. The Monetary Instances reported in early February that Ford was exploring a three way partnership with Xiaomi to provide electrical automobiles (EVs) within the US—the exact association Ford reportedly mentioned with Trump administration officers. Each firms emphatically denied that any talks had taken place, or that Xiaomi was serious about pursuing a US market entry.

Separate Reuters reporting every week later steered that discussions have been at a extra superior stage with Geely about utilizing Ford’s underutilised Valencia, Spain plant to construct Chinese language fashions for European clients. Ford didn’t subject a equally unequivocal denial, telling the outlet that it holds “discussions with a lot of firms on a regular basis on quite a lot of matters” with out confirming specifics, while Geely declined to remark.

In the meantime, Ford has been working on its in-house reply to Chinese language opponents: a US$30,000 electrical pickup scheduled for 2027 launch on a brand new common EV platform at its revamped Louisville meeting plant. Vice President Lisa Drake informed buyers the superior EV programme will match the “full system price” of main Chinese language automakers throughout all automobile techniques, be it batteries or the digital structure. The platform, developed by a 500-person group led by former Tesla engineer Alan Clarke, will assist eight physique kinds together with vehicles, crossovers and doubtlessly sedans.

Farley has repeatedly provided effusive reward for Chinese language automakers, maybe no extra so than Xiaomi. He even imported the smartphone maker-come-automaker’s SU7 e-sedan to the US for private use, telling Argentina’s The Nation in December 2025 that he was “very impressed” with the automobile, and describing Xiaomi itself as “the Apple of China”. He singled out the SU7’s digital expertise—notably its facial recognition AI and chatbot assistant, saying that it reminded him of a Porsche Taycan. In contrast to the Taycan, nevertheless, the SU7 begins round US$30,400—not US$99,500.

Farley additionally warned in the course of the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings name final week that China’s mixture of closely subsidised low-cost manufacturing and weak home demand poses a “wild card” that threatens established automakers worldwide as producers search shops for extra manufacturing.