By announcing the imposition of 25% tariffs on car imports, starting Wednesday, April 2, Donald Trump has stirred up concerns in Mexico, where 4.5% of GDP relies on the automotive industry, particularly exports to the US. Although the US president is targeting the whole world, the tariffs "affect us more because we have the deepest economic integration [with the United States]," complained Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum during her daily press conference on Friday, March 28.

A slowdown in the automotive sector could plunge Mexico into an economic recession in 2025. The car industry accounts for €43 billion in the country, employs 979,000 workers – a quarter of the manufacturing sector – generates 3 million indirect jobs, and attracted more than €150 billion in foreign investment from 2017 to 2022, according to data shared with Le Monde by the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA).

A century after establishment of the first Ford plant in 1925 and 31 years after the signing of the 1994 free trade agreements, Mexico is now the seventh-largest car producer in the world, according to 2024 figures from AMIA. As a gateway to the US market, the country – with its low labor costs – draws the entire industry. General Motors, Nissan, Stellantis, Ford, Volkswagen, Kia, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, and the Chinese JAC control 22 vehicle assembly plants there.

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