Steve Tramell remembers when the news got out in 2006 that Kia was planning to open a plant in West Point, Ga., population 3,700.
“The excitement in downtown was wild,” says Tramell, the city’s mayor. “The signs that were popping up in people’s yards: ‘Thank Jesus for Kia.’ You know, things like that. It was really neat.”
But these days, Tramell is worried. The largest employer in his town is under pressure thanks to President Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on imported auto parts and cars.
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