Liam Denning, Columnist

Protectionism Looks More Like Self-Harm for US Automakers

Tumbling share prices at Ford and GM are evidence that tariff threats and attacks on EV-supportive policies are a blow to the industry.

February 11, 2025 at 5:15 PM UTC

By Liam Denning

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

Under pressure.
Photographer: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images North America

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What do you call protectionism that doesn’t actually offer protection? If that sounds like a bad joke, it is — especially in Detroit.

Jim Farley, Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Co., spoke at a conference on Tuesday, offering a blunt appraisal of President Donald Trump’s policies thus far as they pertain to US autos: