By Nora Eckert, Kalea Hall and David Shepardson
DETROIT, Sept 22 (Reuters) – General Motors CEO Mary Barra is expected to attend US President Donald Trump’s state dinner at the White House on Thursday for Chinese President Xi Jinping, two sources familiar with the matter said, as US automakers warn against allowing Chinese manufacturers into the market, while Trump signals he may be open to it.
Barra will not be joined by Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who is out of the country, two sources said. Ford declined to comment on if CEO Jim Farley would attend the dinner. The automaker recently came under fire from US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for its business partnerships with Chinese companies.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US government has set up numerous trade barriers and policies to keep Chinese automakers out. Still, the president, as recently as this month, said he is willing to let these global auto giants into the country if they employ US workers at their plants.
“If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I’d be okay with that,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News. Major automakers, suppliers and dealers responded by urging Trump to keep Chinese carmakers out of the market.
Barra will be joining a number of tech and industry leaders at the dinner, including executives from Meta, Apple, Amazon and Tesla.
(Reporting by Nora Eckert, Kalea Hall and David Shephardson; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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