Trump Administration Warns Ford Against Making Deals With Chinese Companies – Jalopnik

Happy Wednesday! It’s September 9, 2026, and that is The Morning Shift — your day by day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from all over the world, in a single place. This is the place you will discover crucial tales which can be shaping the best way Americans drive and get round.

In this morning’s version, we’re wanting on the Department of Transportation’s strongly worded letter to Ford over its suppliers, and Germany’s refusal to let Volkswagen cease being Volkswagen. We’ll additionally take a look at China pushing overseas corporations to pay suppliers sooner, and Kansas Republicans pushing again on anti-Bombardier animus. 

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The Trump administration is huge on U.S. isolationism, demanding that every one our merchandise — and their subassemblies, and their elements, and their uncooked supplies — come from, be constructed on, and be offered on U.S. soil. This is hard for automakers like Ford, which depend on exterior suppliers for elements like batteries, lots of that are based mostly in China. From the Wall Street Journal:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sharply criticized Ford Motor’s enterprise with Chinese automotive companies, saying the corporate’s “reliance on technologies of foreign adversaries” is not sustainable for America.

“While DOT recognizes the intense competitive pressures of the global market, the company’s recent strategic decisions paint a troubling picture of a foundational American brand actively intertwining its future with Chinese state-backed enterprises,” Duffy mentioned in a letter to Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley that was made public Tuesday.

Duffy additionally referred to as the manufacturing of Lincoln automobiles in China for the U.S. market “unacceptable.”

It’s all however inconceivable to construct a automotive fully from uncooked supplies to a functioning car within the U.S., utilizing solely U.S. staff and elements, the best way the Trump administration needs. Calling out U.S. automakers for utilizing cost-effective suppliers is barely going to harm value competitiveness long-term. 

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has been pulling out all of the stops to make the corporate extra worthwhile. This has already included makes an attempt to promote a manufacturing unit to Israeli arms producers, and now there is a new concept on the block: Getting rid of the entire pesky “Volkswagen” a part of the corporate. Fortunately, the federal government of the German state of Lower Saxony is not into this concept. From Automotive News: 

Volkswagen Group faces opposition to spinning off three key companies together with its namesake model, highlighting the bounds confronting CEO Oliver Blume as he tries to reshape Europe’s largest automaker.

Lower Saxony Premier Olaf Lies signaled Sept. 9 that the state would block any try by VW to separating these divisions. “A spinoff of the core Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Components businesses was not approved — and would not have been possible with me and the state either,” Lies informed the state parliament.

Lower Saxony owns 20 % of VW’s voting rights and has two supervisory-board seats, giving it an efficient blocking minority over main selections requiring greater than 80 % shareholder approval.

Back after I was in school radio, our enterprise director had an concept: If we simply offered all this pesky radio tools and used the proceeds to purchase a dairy farm, we would be manner extra worthwhile. That’s what this concept from Oliver Blume feels like: What if Volkswagen removed the entire “Volkswagen” albatross round its neck, and have become an organization purely manufactured from spreadsheets? Honestly, it feels like the typical MBA’s dream. 

Speaking of Chinese suppliers, these corporations aren’t loving how lengthy it takes for his or her cost to get in as soon as they ship elements. Now the Chinese authorities is stepping in, demanding that automakers choose up the tempo on making funds. From Bloomberg:

China has tightened necessities for carmakers to pay suppliers sooner, encouraging settlement in as little as 30 days to guard the broader auto business from the results of a long-running value struggle.

The nation’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology additionally ordered carmakers to prioritize “cash” funds — akin to immediate financial institution or wire transfers — relatively than financial institution notes or promissory notes, which simply push settlement phrases out additional.

The strikes, posted by the ministry on Monday, come as Beijing has been attempting for the previous 12 months to comprise the fallout from extreme discounting that has eroded profitability throughout the business. Despite regulators ordering in 2025 that cost phrases be shortened to 60 days, the likes of Li Auto Inc. and Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. took so long as 184 days within the newest half-year to settle payments, in line with knowledge compiled by Bloomberg.

Business-to-business transactions often aren’t accomplished the best way we’re all used to, the place you pay somebody for a factor (say, a bacon egg and cheese sandwich) on the time it is delivered. Instead, companies often shift cash into “Accounts Payable,” the place it languishes (incomes curiosity, in fact) till the final second a contract calls for the corporate pay up. That’s typically 30 days, however it appears some automakers have stretched that even additional in China. 

Kansas, a Republican stronghold, is pushing again towards the Trump administration. Why? Because Trump’s commerce struggle with Canada has come for Bombardier, a Canadian firm that employs Kansans. From Reuters: 

MONTREAL/WASHINGTON Sept 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s menace to ban Bombardier jets from the United States started to backfire on Tuesday after Republicans ‌in Kansas, the place Bombardier employs round 1,500, vowed to guard these jobs forward of a key November election.

Fears over Bombardier shedding entry to a market which accounts for about half of the corporate’s gross sales led some Republican lawmakers to succeed in out to the White House, as their Democratic rivals jumped on the difficulty within the largely crimson state.

Roger Marshall, a Republican U.S. senator for Kansas who ​is working for re-election, mentioned he would combat to avoid wasting Bombardier jobs in his state. “I’ve already taken that concern inside the Oval Office,” he mentioned. Bombardier has ​3,500 jobs within the U.S., greater than 40% of that are in Wichita, Kansas.

Kansas loves Trump, as my cousins within the space know properly. But the state would not all the time love the fallout of the Trump administration’s insurance policies, and it is a excellent instance. Banning a whole overseas firm is a straightforward factor to say in a commerce struggle — not truly a straightforward factor to implement, since nobody is aware of precisely how the Trump administration might logistically do that — however it’s more durable to look by means of Bombardier’s complete provide chain and guarantee U.S. staff aren’t affected. 

From Attica to Anna Delvey, you by no means know what you are going to get in an upstate jail. 

Woof. Seven cents in a single day is a bonkers soar for normal, and mid-grade and premium each beat that with 10-cent will increase. I guess diesel already had its huge spike, however issues might nonetheless worsen. 

I whacked my head fairly good whereas mountain climbing yesterday, so this morning’s music vibes are good and chill.