GM to move production of Buick SUV from China to U.S.

The General Motors Canada office in Oshawa, Ont., is photographed on Wednesday, June 20, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin)

General Motors is moving production of a China-built Buick SUV to the U.S., its latest move to expand U.S. factory work in the wake of the Trump administration’s tariffs.

The Detroit automaker said Thursday it is ending China production of the Buick Envision, a midsize SUV that it has been importing to the U.S. for nearly a decade. GM will instead build the next generation of the vehicle at its assembly plant in the Kansas City area starting in 2028.

“This decision further strengthens GM’s domestic manufacturing footprint and supports U.S. jobs,” the automaker said in a statement to Reuters.

GM has shipped the Envision to the U.S. since 2017 as its only Chinese import. GM has faced a 25 per cent tariff on the vehicles since 2018, and did not win an exemption from the tariff during the first Trump administration.

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The Envision became a target for critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the United Auto Workers union and members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio.

Tariffs on vehicles imported from China increased last year amid a trade war between Washington and Beijing.

Last year, GM announced it would bring production of the Chevrolet Equinox SUV to the same Kansas City-area plant, from a factory in Mexico. GM recently began production of the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt out of the plant for a limited run.

When production of the Bolt ends, GM will convert the plant to make only combustion-engine vehicles. Equinox production will start in 2027, GM said.

GM is also moving production of the Chevy Blazer to Spring Hill, Tennessee, from Mexico in 2027.

(Reporting by Kalea Hall in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Mike Colias and Lisa Shumaker)