GM Cutbacks Due to Offshoring, Not Tariffs By Jeff Ferry General Motors had a very good year in 2018. You read that right... a good year... maybe even an excellent year. The company’s third-quarter earnings knocked it out of the park. Wall Street was expecting GM earnings of $1.25 per share, yet the carmaker delivered $1.87. Overall, company CEO Mary Barra is bullish, saying, “We expect full-year [earnings per share] to be at the top of our previously-communicated guidance range with potential for further upside.” But you might ask: Didn’t GM just announce the shutting of five auto plants in November, and is laying off some 14,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada? And isn’t all of this supposedly due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs? The fact is, GM’s recent cutbacks have little to do with current sales, and nothing at all to do with the president’s tariffs. [more...]