Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley said the company needs continued access to affordable imported auto parts to support further growth in US vehicle production.

Speaking with the Detroit Free Press on Monday, Farley outlined the Detroit automaker’s priorities ahead of the upcoming renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“Really, our priority is to be able to import parts,” the CEO stated, clarifying that they aim to “build as much as we can in our country, but import parts to make the vehicles as affordable as possible.”

Farley’s comments come weeks before the July 1 deadline for the USMCA joint review and as bilateral US-Mexico negotiations advance in parallel.

President Donald Trump signed the original USMCA in 2020 during his first term.

A year ago, however, he imposed 25% tariffs on all vehicles and all auto parts imported into the United States — including those coming from its North American neighbors.

Ford has touted its position as the automaker that builds the most vehicles domestically, employs the most United Auto Workers (UAW), and exports the most vehicles from the US.

Around 77% of Ford’s production is US-based, with the remaining 23% of vehicles and auto parts imported mostly from Mexico and Canada.

Farley wants competitors who fall short of a revised USMCA’s compliance rules to face steep financial consequences.

“So what we’ll be looking for in the new negotiation is really making sure that if a vehicle is imported from Mexico and Canada, that it’s done as a level playing field” Farley stated.

He added that, for anyone who is “not compliant with USMCA, it should be very expensive to do that.”

Additionally, the Ford CEO flagged the need for Detroit automakers to access “affordable parts, so we can make even more in the US, which is our plan.”

For that, automakers should “be able to import parts without punitive tariffs,” Farley noted.

Farley’s comments come just days after Chief Financial Officer Sherry House told investors that a strong agreement is crucial and would enable North American-based suppliers to thrive.

Speaking at an UBS conference last week, House flagged the need “to have really good clarity around content, and there needs to be a structure that enables non-compliance to be handled with tariffs.”

According to the CFO, “those tariffs have to be meaningful enough to really encourage the type of behavior that we think the US needs, in order to continue to have high-skill, high-wage jobs within America.”

Ford was hit with a $2 billion tariff bill in 2025 and expects a similar cost this year.

General Motors paid $3 billion in tariffs last year and has projected an additional $3.5 billion headwind from trade policy changes in 2026.

Ford‘s first-quarter 2026 results reflected an improved trajectory despite the tariff environment.

The company posted revenue of $43.3 billion, net income of $2.5 billion, and adjusted EBIT of $3.5 billion.

The figures were boosted by a $1.3 billion one-time benefit following the US Supreme Court’s invalidation of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Ford‘s USMCA priorities are directly tied to its largest active manufacturing investment.

The automaker is in the midst of retooling its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky to build a family of electric vehicles on its new Universal Electric Vehicle platform.

The first model off the UEV architecture will be a midsize electric pickup launching in 2027 with a starting price of roughly $30,000.

Farley has indicated follow-on models may include a compact SUV or a sedan.

Ford ended production of the Escape and Lincoln Corsair at Louisville in December 2025.

The Long Beach, California development hub — a 350-person skunkworks led by former Tesla executive Alan Clarke — is central to the UEV program’s design and testing.

Affordable imported parts are essential to hitting the $30,000 price target that underpins the strategy.

“We built this whole auto manufacturing ecosystem considering all three countries in an integrated way,” Farley said. “We are the most American. We build the most here. We have the most UAW workers. We export the most, but without Mexico and Canada, it would be a lot more expensive for customers.”

Farley’s call for affordable parts comes as the Trump administration pushes for tighter sourcing rules.

According to a May 29 report in the Wall Street Journal, Washington has proposed requiring that half of a vehicle’s components and materials originate from US sources to qualify for preferential tariff treatment under a revised USMCA.

The proposal represents a first-of-its-kind US-specific mandate. The current agreement requires 75% North American content but has no US-specific threshold.

The administration is also expected to propose raising the overall North American content requirement above 75%, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.

Ford shares climbed to their highest level since January 2022 on the same day, jumping as much as 6.7% to a four-year high of $17.78.

The stock nearly doubled from a 52-week low of $9.42 set in June 2025.

As of press time, Ford was trading 2.2% up at $15.34 on Tuesday’s market session.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said at a May 26 Council on Foreign Relations event that the agreement “will not continue as a tariff-free trade pact.”

Greer confirmed auto and steel tariffs will remain in place under any revamped deal, adding that negotiations would focus on rules of origin “in a way that enhances US content in these goods.”

Farley said Ford is “heavy into the discussions now” with the Trump administration, as well as with the governments of Mexico and Canada.

“So far everyone’s kind of sorting each other’s position out,” Farley stated. “And, the UAW, I saw last week, issued their point of view on USMCA. The good thing is Ford is respected, we’ve earned that respect.”

The United Auto Workers has more than 400,000 active members across the US and Canada.

Last month, UAW President Shawn Fain held a webinar to outline the union’s demands for the renegotiation.

The UAW wants a worker-centered trade policy that addresses the shift of factory jobs from the US to lower-wage Mexico, stronger labor rights across borders, and a “build here to sell here” standard.

GM CEO Mary Barra has taken a parallel but slightly different approach to the USMCA review.

During GM‘s first-quarter 2026 earnings call, Barra framed the review as “not so much of a footprint issue” but rather a matter of ensuring that the company can compete with automakers operating under different cost structures.

On May 29, she cautioned that increasing US and regional content requirements could raise costs and affect vehicle affordability.

Barra has previously criticized Canada’s tariff deal with China and reaffirmed GM’s commitment to US manufacturing.

In March, both Farley and Barra joined Stellantis Chairman John Elkann on a call with Trump to urge a reprieve on 25% tariffs for auto imports that are already USMCA-compliant.

The formal USMCA joint review is proceeding on a bilateral basis.

The first US-Mexico round wrapped up on May 29 in Mexico City.

Additional rounds are scheduled for June 16–17 in Washington DC, and the week of July 20 back in Mexico City.

Mexico had previously flagged the elimination of auto tariffs as its top priority.

Canada remains on the sidelines.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump have not resolved their standoff over US tariffs, and Ottawa is not part of the initial rounds.

Greer described issues with Canada as “significant” and said the situation is “hard to see where that ends,” noting Ottawa’s decision to retaliate against US tariffs — unlike the EU and other trade partners.

Canada has separately pursued a tariff deal with China allowing up to 49,000 Chinese EVs to enter the country annually at a reduced tariff of 6.1%.

The deal has attracted criticism from industry groups, Detroit automakers, and Washington.

However, Carney has maintained the agreement is consistent with CUSMA obligations.

The USMCA does not expire if the parties fail to reach an extension during the July 1 review, remaining in force until 2036 unless a country actively withdraws.