By Amber Dasilva

Copyright jalopnik

President Donald Trump frequently describes a booming U.S. auto industry, fueled by new factories from Canada, Mexico and Europe that he says will soon be producing American-made vehicles for global markets – from Tokyo to Paris.

“We have so many car company factories under construction or being designed right now. And they’re coming from China. They’re coming from Mexico,” Trump said at a White House event earlier this month. A few days later, he lamented the loss of U.S. car production over the years, and proclaimed: “Car factories are coming back.”

But there is little evidence of a construction binge of new U.S. car factories. Instead, auto companies are making tactical moves at existing plants as they adapt to the two pillars of Trump’s second-term business agenda: tariffs, and policies hostile toward electric vehicles.

To sidestep tariffs, some automakers are retooling existing, idle factory space in the U.S. to build vehicles that they have been importing, and which now face levies.

For example, Nissan has said it plans to make more Rogue SUVs and other vehicles at its plants in Tennessee and Mississippi, while reducing imports from Japan. Japanese vehicles face levies of 15% under a tentative deal with the Trump administration.