LORDSTOWN FALLOUT | Brown talks GM in Trump call

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump about General Motors Wednesday night.

Brown had requested a call with the president to talk about GM’s decision, announced Monday, to idle five of its North American plants — including the local GM Lordstown plant that builds the Chevrolet Cruze.

“I called on President Trump to support my American Cars, American Jobs Act, which I first introduced this summer,” Brown said in a statement following the phone call with the president. “The President said he liked the bill. My office sent a copy of the bill over to the White House tonight and we will continue doing everything we can to fight for Ohio jobs. I’m glad the President said the right things [Wednesday night], but now he needs to follow it up with action. I’ve been calling on him to help save these jobs for months, and it’s long past time that we stop subsidizing corporations that send jobs overseas and start supporting American workers.”

Brown introduced the American Cars, American Jobs Act in August, following layoffs at the Lordstown plant in January 2017 and June 2018 and the company’s announcement it would build the Chevy Blazer at a plant in Mexico.

The bill, if signed into law, would offer consumers a $3,500 discount on many American-built and assembled cars, trucks and SUVs and would revoke the Republican corporate tax cut on auto manufacturers that ship jobs overseas.

Production at the Lordstown plant will end March 1. The plant does not have a guarantee of a future product.