A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump says auto tariffs will bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Our next guest has some doubts. Jim Ross is the mayor of Arlington, Texas, which is home to a large General Motors auto assembly plant. Mayor Ross, what is your perspective on the president's tariff plan?
JIM ROSS: Well, we have the General Motors assembly plant here in Arlington that manufactures all of the SUVs made by General Motors. So it's a Escalade, Tahoe, Suburban, whatever, it's made here in Arlington. That plant employs about 5,600 employees, and we're concerned about the livelihood of those employees. If the tariffs go into effect, if consumers are paying more money, are they going to be buying less vehicles now? And if they are, how is that going to affect the employees at the assembly plant? So we've written a letter to the two senators here in Texas, Senator Cornyn and Senator Cruz, to ask them to help intervene on behalf of the automotive industry here in Texas. We have yet to hear a response from them, but hopefully we're going to get through this crisis and come out better at the other end.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. That was earlier this month you sent that letter, along with the mayor of San Antonio. I'm wondering if maybe - because I read that you said that you don't know how tariffs will benefit any Texans. So I'm wondering if maybe you've also reached out to the Trump administration to try and explain how this will benefit people in Texas.
ROSS: Well, we haven't reached out to the Trump administration directly. I'm a part of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. And the mayors, the U.S. Conference has certainly reached out to the Trump administration. We've yet to get a meeting with the Trump administration on this. I know that the U.S. Conference of Mayors, along with mayors in Canada and mayors in Mexico, are meeting next month to discuss tariffs and see what we can do as collective mayors in all three countries to work together like we have done for decades and decades.
MARTÍNEZ: You've called this a job-killing threat. What do you envision as the worst-case scenario come April 2?
ROSS: You know, April 2 worst-case scenario, the bottom line is consumers are going to be paying for tariffs. And if consumers are paying for tariffs and they can no longer afford vehicles, that means a decrease in the amount of production at our assembly plant. And that is where we're concerned about it being a job-killing threat. If this does ultimately create more jobs, those jobs aren't going to happen overnight. We've spent decades building these plants and getting these things going. General Motors has been here for 60, 70 years. It's going to take a long time for us to see any benefit from this whatsoever. In the meantime, people are going to be paying the price. Mexico is not paying the price. Canada is not paying the price. It is the people here in the United States paying the price.
MARTÍNEZ: You mentioned the over 5,000 workers at the General Motors plant. Are you worried that people will move, will leave Arlington and maybe also affect some of the other businesses that are around the plant like, say, a diner or a clothing store or something like that?
ROSS: Listen, we have a lot of businesses that rely upon our General Motors employees. But we also have the vendor-type businesses that supply all kinds of parts and materials to the assembly plant. When a vehicle is manufactured, we're not just talking about manufacturing a vehicle from outside the country and bringing it in. We have different components within that vehicle that are manufactured all over the world and brought into the United States. Some are then shipped back, and other assembly is done and then brought back. You're talking potentially being able to tariff parts of a vehicle two or three times. That's going to be a tremendous expense that the end consumer is going to be using.
MARTÍNEZ: Mayor, I know that mayoral elections in Arlington are nonpartisan. But Arlington is in the 25th Congressional District, one that overwhelmingly voted for President Trump. Do residents in Arlington, in this district, share your concerns about tariffs?
ROSS: Yeah, they do. You know, I'm very proud of our community. We lie right in the middle of Dallas and Fort Worth. I'd say we're a purple community. We don't consider ourselves blue or red. We just want our streets fixed, our communities safe, our citizens to stay employed. And that's what citizens here in Arlington are concerned about. I don't take a position when it comes to national politics, pro or con, one side or the other. I believe that politicians have a duty to do what's best for the community, whether it's a local community like Arlington, the state of Texas or the federal government.
MARTÍNEZ: Mayor, this show is heard in D.C., where there are plenty of congresspeople there. You have about 30 seconds to speak to them, to try and get some security for your city and for the jobs there.
ROSS: You know, if I could speak to them directly, I would say, y'all, stop attacking the other side one way or the other. I don't care about that. The community doesn't care about that. And start doing what's best for the communities as a whole. We don't want to hear blame placed on everybody else. We want people to do their job.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Mayor Jim Ross of Arlington, Texas. Mayor, thank you very much for speaking with us.
ROSS: Thank you so much. Y'all have a great day. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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