The Mexican automotive industry is one of the most important at a regional level, which continues to advance in its recovery to reach the levels it had in terms of production, sales and exports before the COVID-19 pandemic, and which now faces a new threat due to the imposition of 25% tariffs on various Mexican products by the President of the United States, Donald Trump , although the opportunities that exist in this adversity must also be seen.
In this scenario, Elisa Crespo , executive president of the civil organization Metropolitan Automotive Cluster , indicated that the impact of tariffs affects the value chain, but suppliers are the most vulnerable to the imposition of said tax, something that will also affect the consumer.
“The cost will definitely be passed on to the entire chain, so that, in the end, the main affected party will be the consumer. The truth is that the impact severely damages the economic structures of the United States, Canada and Mexico,” the specialist stressed.
He said the impact per car is approximately three thousand dollars, an increase that will fall into the pockets of the American consumer.
In an interview with T21 , Crespo indicated that, in addition, the tariffs put at risk more than five million jobs in the automotive industry between the three countries . He pointed out that trade between Mexico, the United States and Canada is in the range of 300 billion dollars (mdd) annually that will be affected.
These impacts occur at a time when the Mexican automotive industry has had optimal results, since during January 2025 alone, 312,257 units were manufactured in the country , which meant an increase of 1.7% compared to the same month in 2024, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) .
According to the same organization, the export of light vehicles manufactured in Mexico in the first month of 2025 reached 219,414 units; the United States was the main destination for exports with 83.6% ( 183,321 units) followed by Canada with 21,707 cars .
Regarding the possible transfer of production to other countries by automotive companies, Elisa Crespo highlighted that Mexico has a very consolidated value chain and pointed out that the automotive industry makes projections for at least five years into the future.
In this regard, he considered that some automakers do feel threatened, but there will be reconfigurations, in addition to the fact that there are counterweights to alleviate the tariff effects, such as investments in Mexico.
“That is what should give us peace of mind and relief, yes, we have to implement strategies to reduce the impact, the most important thing is also to highlight that Mexican suppliers and also foreign investment in their business portfolio are not only betting on the automotive industry, but also on other sectors,” he explained, adding that this balances the impact that could exist in the automotive sector.
It is worth remembering that in mid-February, Nissan ‘s president and CEO , Makoto Uchida , said at a press conference that they were evaluating the impact of the tariffs proposed by Trump, which would entail moving their production from Mexico to another location.
“If high tariffs are imposed, we will have to be ready and perhaps we can move the production of these models to another place. If that were the decision, we would think about how to make it a reality while monitoring the situation,” he said at the time.
The executive stressed that the Japanese firm exports a large volume of vehicles to its northern neighbor, so he warned that “if there are high tariffs, it will have serious implications for our business . “
Elisa Crespo believes that despite the adversity that tariffs represent, the opportunities that this measure could bring should be considered.
Along these lines, he said that they apply the rule of “every crisis brings a great opportunity”, which is why they are busy integrating the value chain to replace parts and components.
He also said that they are conducting technical visits to the plants belonging to his group to find opportunities to strengthen the domestic market, and indicated that they are proposing to his industrial group to work on consolidated purchases.
“Finally, there is a dialogue with the federal government, where we make recommendations for some programs or incentives that can support our industry as always, and remembering that what we also need is accessible financing with rules that really allow us to withstand the economic impact that all this will have as a consequence,” he stressed.
Metropolitan Automotive Cluster and T-MEC review
One of the issues that will be put on the table in the next review of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) in 2026 will be the Mexican automotive industry, which is why the Metropolitan Automotive Cluster has structured a highly qualified work team and has held meetings with industry players such as the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA) and the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA) , among others.
They have also had meetings with the federal government at the Ministry of Economy , and with Altagracia Gómez , coordinator of the Economic Development Advisory Council of the Presidency. “Communication has been very open and also very strategic in that sense,” he concluded.
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