BMW could face tariffs of up to 35 percent for its plans to produce vehicles in Mexico, according to threats from President-elect Donald Trump.
The three German carmakers are investing greatly in Mexico but also manufacture in the United States.
BMW and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz have sizeable factories in the United States where they build higher-margin sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for export to Asia and Europe.
Trump, in interviews with German daily Bild and The Times of London, singled out BMW.
“It is surprising that Trump singles out the carmaker that exports more vehicles from the United States than any other manufacturer,” Evercore ISI analysts reported according to a CNBC story.
BMW Manufacturing in Greer produces the X3, X4, X5, and X6 models. About 70 percent of BMW’s 410,000 vehicles (2016) were exported through the Charleston Port.
Greer is the brand’s largest annual production facility in the world, company officials announced last week.
A $1 billion expansion is ongoing at the Greer plant that will add the X7 to the SUV family in addition to 800 more jobs.
BMW announced last year it was investing $1 billion in a plant in Mexico’s San Luis Potosi to create 1,500 jobs to build the 3 Series, beginning in 2019, in addition to production plants in Germany and China. BMW executive Peter Schwarzenbauer told reporters the company is keeping to its plans.