ICBC: Trump may open doors in Mexico for China

Trump’s push to force US industry to bring jobs home is opening investment avenues for Chinese companies in Mexico, an executive with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country’s largest lender, said on Friday. Fears of a hit to foreign investment ran high when Ford Motor canceled a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico’s in January. Trump hailed the decision as a major victory, although Ford put it down to declining demand for small cars. Reuters reports that Yaogang Chen, head of ICBC’s Mexico unit, said US industry’s loss could be China’s gain. “If some US investment projects don’t (happen), there has to be somebody to invest… If Chinese companies think it is profitable, they will invest,” he said at a banking conference in Acapulco. In February, China’s JAC Motor and Mexico’s Giant Motors, along with distributor Chori, said they would invest over $210 million in an existing plant to build SUVs.