Toyota shares fall after Donald Trump's customs duties threat

The shares of Toyota Motor fell on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) on Friday after US President-elect Donald Trump threatened the Japanese car manufacturer with customs duties if it continues the construction of its new vehicle assembly plant in Mexico.

The Japanese company's share price fell 3.1 per cent in the first few minutes of trading to 6,830 yen ($59) after investors at the TSE saw Trump's threat with scepticism, Efe news reported.

Toyota, in November 2016, started building a new plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, where it plans to manufacture, from 2019, 2,00,000 units a year of its Corolla model, the second-most popular car in the US in the category of compact sedans. It is currently produced in plants in Mississippi, US and Cambridge, Canada.

"Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja (California), Mexico, to build Corolla cars for US No Way! Build plant in US or pay big border tax," Trump tweeted on Thursday.

Toyota announced plans to build a new facility in Mexico in April 2015 and said that production volumes or employment in the US will not be reduced and that the company "looks forward to collaborating with the Trump administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry."

Trump on Tuesday threatened General Motors (GM) with duties if it maintains its production in Mexico for the compact Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback.

Trump's attacks on GM and Toyota came after Ford announced on Tuesday the cancellation of a $1.6 billion investment in Mexico.