Trump Is Still Bullish On Tariffs, Bearish On The North American Trade Agreement He Instituted

Happy Wednesday! It's January 14, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition, we're looking at Trump's latest statements on the automotive world, as well as the latest on Tesla's racism lawsuit. We'll also look at Tesla's FSD going subscription-only, and Mazda's very good year. 

Donald Trump loves tariffs. He also loves the idea that the United States will once again be a global manufacturing superpower, rather than our current status as more of a software and economics powerhouse. All this means he sees his protectionist moves as an absolute win, and wants automakers to move their production here, as he said while touring a Ford factory on Tuesday. From Automotive News:

A year into his second term, President Donald Trump visited Detroit to tout his administration's tariffs, cuts to environmental regulations and other policies, which he said are ushering in a boom period for the U.S. auto industry.

He also reiterated his openness to letting Chinese automakers open factories in the U.S. as companies including Geely eye expansion here.

"If they want to come in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbors, that's great, I love that," Trump said during remarks at a Jan. 13 meeting of the Detroit Economic Club. "Let China come in, let Japan come in."

Trump also took the time to talk smack about the USMCA North American free trade agreement, an agreement he tore down NAFTA to install. Now, it seems, he's not a big fan of it after all. Also from Automotive News:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 13 said the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade is "irrelevant" to him and Americans don't need Canadian products

"It expires very shortly and we could have it or not," Trump said while touring a Ford plant in Michigan. "It wouldn't matter to me. I think they want it. I don't really care about it.

Trump statements have rattled Canada and Mexico ahead of a mandatory review this year of the future of the continental trade pact, known as USMCA. The president told reporters that "Canada wants it" but the United States doesn't need anything from its northern neighbour.

Truly the economic genius of Donald Trump knows no bounds. The only way such protectionist policies could ever harm Americans is if they made things more expensive to import — or if domestic companies seeking profits for shareholders simply raised their prices to match foreign competitors. Good thing no company has ever shelled out to shareholders at all costs before!

Way back under the Biden administration, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla for allowing some wildly racist behavior in its factories. Now the automaker wants to mediate things with the commission, which could be an interesting move under the Trump administration. From Reuters:

Tesla agreed to enter mediation that could resolve the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's lawsuit accusing Elon Musk's electric car maker of tolerating severe and widespread harassment of Black employees at its Fremont, California, assembly plant.

The EEOC said it is working with Tesla to choose a mediator, and negotiations could begin in March or April. It also said both sides will make a proposal to the presiding judge by June 17 on what to do if settlement discussions and mediation are unsuccessful.

The new head of the EEOC is a Trump appointee, which makes it a bit surprising that this lawsuit hasn't been outright canceled. We'll see what happens under this mediation, but the Trump administration is known to be even more anti-worker than Biden was — not to mention its anti-DEI crusade. 

Tesla has long offered its FSD software as a subscription, but buyers of new Teslas have also been able to shell out to get it included upfront for the entire time they spend with the car. Now that latter option is going away, according to Elon Musk's twitter, and being replaced with the subscription service. From Reuters:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the electric vehicle maker's full self-driving (FSD) software will only be available as a monthly subscription after February 14.

Currently, Tesla allows its electic vehicle owners to purchase FSD (Supervised) for a one-time payment of $8,000 or a subscription of $99 per month in the U.S.

The simple math here says that Tesla is predicting the average owner to keep their car for longer than 80 months, which actually isn't out of line with typical American car ownership. Of course, no financial math is that simple — there's the appearance to investors of monthly returns to consider. Plus, in the event of an economic downturn that hampers the company's already flagging sales, getting more cash out of existing owners is a smart plan. 

Mazda sales in 2025 were down from the prior year, like many other automakers. Unlike other automakers, though, the folks at Mazda are likely popping bottles over those numbers — 2024 was a record year for the automaker, and 2025 was still its second-best year ever. From Automotive News:

While 2025 was not a record year for sales at Mazda North American Operations, the results marked the brand's second-best ever.

Mazda deliveries totaled 410,346 in 2025, down 3.3 percent from 2024's record of 424,382, and the only two years Mazda's U.S. volumes have surpassed the 400,000 mark

And it was crossovers that really delivered for the brand.

The Japanese brand saw significant sales increases for the CX-50 compact crossover, up 35 percent, and the CX-70 large crossover, up 30 percent.

Mazda's been working hard to scale its sales without making its cars at all blander or cheaper-feeling. It's not a common method to employ, but it seems to be working for the brand — which works well for all of us, because Mazda's current offerings are largely great. 

Picard to La Forge. Status?

I've had "Riot!" on a loop all morning, and I didn't notice how many splash cymbals are on this track until today. They're everywhere!