U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut an electric vehicle subsidy for General Motors on Tuesday over planned plant closures, but an industry expert said it would have little impact on the company.

The looming closures, which include four U.S. plants and one in Oshawa, Ont., are expected cost 14,000 American jobs and another 2,900 positions in Canada.

Trump, who campaigned on a promise to bring back manufacturing jobs and won key Rust Belt states in the 2016 presidential election, that 鈥渨e are now looking at cutting all GM subsidies, including for electric cars.鈥�

Jeremy Acevedo, an auto industry analyst with Edmunds in Santa Monica, Calif., told 麻豆传媒 that GM would barely notice an electric vehicle (EV) subsidy cut.

鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 a threat, but not with much punch behind it,鈥� he said.

The EV subsidy is a $7,500 tax credit for consumers who buy electric vehicles.

鈥淭he way that leasing goes, and it鈥檚 so popular here now, there are a lot of opportunities for GM and the dealership network to actually absorb those tax credits and pass on a cheap lease to shoppers out there,鈥� said Acevedo.

However, the credit -- which is industry-wide -- gets phased out after a company sells 200,000 electric vehicles, and GM is just months away from hitting that target.

鈥淐utting electric vehicle subsidies for GM really would matter almost not at all,鈥� Acevedo explained. 鈥淩eally, they鈥檙e going to hit that all on their own. They鈥檝e had tremendous momentum selling their EVs and plug-in vehicles, so they鈥檙e very close to that 200,000 mark.鈥�

Trump spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the GM job losses on Tuesday, with both leaders expressing their disappointment.

GM said it will shut down five plants in Oshawa, Detroit, Ohio, Maryland and Michigan. The company has also announced plans to cease operations at three more plants outside North America by the end of 2019.