SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — GreenPower Motor Company announced layoffs to its workforce and a pause in manufacturing at a facility in South Charleston in a statement Friday.

According to the statement, one of the major factors in the decision was the new trade tariff’s imposed by President Trump, which they said has significantly increased the company’s operational costs.

“This decision was not made lightly. GreenPower carefully evaluated all options, including reallocation of resources, voluntary separations and internal transfers. Unfortunately, none of these measures could fully offset the economic burden GreenPower is facing due to the tariffs,” the statement said.

GreenPower was slated to deliver electric school buses to West Virginia schools, but they now say the tariffs are affecting the entire school bus manufacturing sector.

In the statement, they said that as a school bus original equipment manufacturer (OEM), they cannot pass on the increased cost like a school district could do with the government due to state contracts.

“The new tariffs leave no pathway for a school bus OEM to build vehicles in the United States and it completely halts GreenPower’s efforts to on-shore and friend-shore the supply chain, especially non-Chinese battery cells and components,” the statement said.

GreenPower said they would give assistance to employees affected by the layoffs.