Stellantis Chairman Met Trump In U.S, Why Did He Do This?

Could Stellantis find a way to avoid tariffs for its brands in the U.S because of Trump?

Stellantis Chairman John Elkann recently spent 4 days in Washington, D.C., meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and top administration officials. This visit underscores Elkann’s efforts, along with other business leaders, to build strong ties with the U.S. administration, particularly as President Trump is poised to implement significant changes in economic and trade policies.

During his time in Washington, Elkann had two meetings with President Trump, according to sources familiar with the discussions. One of the key topics during these meetings was the potential introduction of tariffs, as Trump had suggested imposing a 25 percent duty on imports from Canada and Mexico starting 1 February. 

Moreover, Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler and Jeep, manufactures several of its U.S.-market models in these two countries, making the outcome of this discussion critical to the automaker. In addition to trade policies, President Trump also criticized electric vehicles (EVs) in his inaugural speech. 

He revoked an executive order from the Biden administration, which had aimed for 50 percent of new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 to be electric. I personally love this move. However, this decision has implications for Stellantis, as the company is increasingly focused on expanding its EV offerings in the U.S. market, so Stellantis may not like it as much as me.

Elkann, who is also the chairman of Ferrari and CEO of Exor (the Agnelli family investment company), was among the global business leaders invited to attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony. However, he returned to Italy before the event to welcome seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari’s new Formula One driver.

On top of that, Stellantis, which is part of Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers through its ownership of Chrysler, operates several manufacturing plants in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The company expressed confidence that it is well-positioned to adapt to any policy changes under Trump’s administration. 

In a statement, Stellantis highlighted Trump’s focus on strengthening the U.S. manufacturing base, calling it a positive development. The company looks forward to collaborating with the administration to advance the goals of bolstering both the automotive industry and the U.S. economy.

We got all this from Reuters and their full article is linked here. Thank you Reuters for the information and images.