Ford Motor Co. had a quick and firm response Sunday to a claim by President Donald Trump that tariffs on Chinese goods would force the auto maker to build its Focus Active crossover in the U.S. — um, no. 
 
 “It would not be profitable to build the Focus Active in the U.S. given an expected annual sales volume of fewer than 50,000 units,” Ford said in a statement Sunday. “Ford is proud to employ more U.S. hourly workers and build more vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker.” 
 
 Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that “Ford has abruptly killed a plan to sell a Chinese-made small vehicle in the U.S. because of the prospect of higher U.S. Tariffs. . . . This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!” 
 
 In fact, on Aug. 31, Ford canceled plans to import compact Focus Actives that were made in China because of the high tariff costs. But that just meant the car will not be sold in the U.S. at all, since Ford saw it as a niche vehicle. The cars will continue to be sold elsewhere around the world. 
 
 
 
 “This is further evidence that neither the president nor his trade representatives have any clue of the complexities of global supply chains,” Jon Gabrielsen, a market economist who specializes in the auto industry, told the Detroit Free Press on Sunday. 
 
 Ford shares F, +6.17% have sunk almost 26% year to date, compared to the S&P 500’s SPX, +0.55% gain of more than 7%. 
 
 Want news about Asia delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Asia Daily newsletter. Sign up here. ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — Ford won't be moving production of a hatchback wagon to the United States from China — despite President Donald Trump's claim Sunday that his taxes on Chinese imports mean the Focus Active can be built in America. 
 
 Citing Trump's new tariffs, Ford on Aug. 31 said it was dropping plans to ship the Focus Active from China to America. 
 
 Trump took to Twitter Sunday to declare victory and write: "This is just the beginning. This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!" 
 
 But in a statement Sunday, Ford said "it would not be profitable to build the Focus Active in the U.S." given forecast yearly sales below 50,000. 
 
 For now, that means Ford simply won't sell the vehicle in the United States. Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automotive Research said that Ford can make Focuses "in many other plants around the world, so if they decided to continue to sell a Focus variant in the U.S. market, there are several options other than building it in the United States." 
 
 In April, Ford announced plans to stop making cars in the United States — except for the iconic Mustang — and to focus on more profitable SUVs. It stopped making Focus sedans at a Wayne, Michigan, plant in May. The plan, said industry analyst Ed Kim of AutoPacific, was to pare down the Focus lineup to Active wagons and import them from China. "Without the tariffs, the business case was pretty solid for that model in the U.S. market," Kim said. 
 
 The tariffs changed everything. The United States on July 6 began imposing a 25 percent tax on $34 billion in Chinese imports, including motor vehicles. Last month, it added tariffs to another $16 billion in Chinese goods and is readying taxes on another $200 billion worth. China is retaliating with its own tariffs on U.S. products. 
 
 The world's two biggest economies are clashing over U.S. allegations that China deploys predatory tactics — including outright cybertheft — to acquire technology from U.S. companies and challenge American technological dominance.
– Ford says it isn't going to shift production of the Focus Active from China to the US, despite President Trump's thoughts on the matter. Trump boasted in a tweet Sunday that new tariffs on Chinese imports had forced the automaker to abandon plans to sell the Chinese-made Focus Active in the US. "This is just the beginning," Trump wrote. "This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!" Ford, however, says it will simply not sell the compact car in the US, though it will be available elsewhere, MarketWatch reports. The company, which is now focusing on making SUVs instead of cars, says expected sales weren't high enough to justify building the Active in the US. "It would not be profitable to build the Focus Active in the US, given an expected annual sales volume of fewer than 50,000 units," Ford said in a statement, adding: "Ford is proud to employ more US hourly workers and build more vehicles in the US than any other automaker." Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automotive Research tells the AP that Ford can make the vehicle "in many other plants around the world, so if they decided to continue to sell a Focus variant in the US market, there are several options other than building it in the United States." (Chinese state media mocked Trump as a round of tariffs took effect last month.)