Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick discusses how America is rebuilding its automobile manufacturing industry through policy on ‘Kudlow.’
Ford is preparing to expand U.S. production of Lincoln vehicles as the automaker moves toward ending imports from China for American customers, a move Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick highlighted while discussing the Trump administration’s push to expand domestic manufacturing.
Lutnick joined FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow on “Kudlow” to discuss the Trump administration’s auto tariffs and efforts to expand domestic manufacturing.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick speaking during a roundtable. (Eric Lee / Getty Images)
“They’re bringing their manufacturing home,” Lutnick said. “Ford is going to rock us with bringing manufacturing back to America.”
Ford plans to expand U.S. production of Lincoln vehicles beginning in 2030 and eventually stop importing vehicles from China for the luxury brand’s American customers. The company expects the expansion to generate thousands of direct and indirect U.S. jobs, but has not disclosed how much it plans to invest or which plants will receive the additional production.
FORD BOOSTS US LINCOLN PRODUCTION AS IT PHASES OUT IMPORTS FROM CHINA
Lincoln’s U.S. lineup currently includes the China-built Nautilus. Ford has not said whether Nautilus production will move to the U.S. under the plan or identified which China-imported vehicles will be affected.
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The automaker already has a sizable U.S. manufacturing footprint. Ford said it assembled more than 2 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2025 and employs approximately 56,300 hourly manufacturing workers in the country.
Lutnick pointed to Ford and other automakers as examples of companies increasing their focus on American manufacturing, and argued that tariffs are helping drive investment and jobs back to the U.S.
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“Thousands of jobs, thousands and thousands of jobs coming back to America because of these tariffs on automotives,” Lutnick said.
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He also emphasized the need to prepare younger workers for increasingly automated manufacturing jobs.
“We’re gonna have to train young people for these high-tech jobs,” Lutnick said. “We are going high-tech in America.”
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A completed commercial truck rolls off the assembly line at Ford’s Ohio Assembly Plant in Sheffield Lake, Ohio. (Dustin Franz/Bloomberg / Getty Images)
Lutnick said the administration’s focus extends beyond final assembly to building advanced manufacturing capacity inside the United States.
“We are going to build these factories here in America, and that’s the key,” he said.
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Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
