President Donald Trump said he could impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as early as February 1, sending shares of Asian automakers and battery companies tumbling in the market on Tuesday.
These are the companies that could be affected:
automobile manufacturers
Audi
The Audi plant, part of the Volkswagen Group, located in San José Chiapa, Mexico, produces the Q5 model and employs just over 5,000 people. In 2023 it manufactured almost 176,000 vehicles, according to its website. In the first half of 2024, it exported almost 40,000 vehicles to the US, according to the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry.
BMW
The BMW plant in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, produces the 3 Series, 2 Series Coupé and M2 models, allocating almost all of its production to the US and other international markets, according to the manufacturer. Starting in 2027, it will manufacture the “Neue Klasse” line of all-electric models.
BYD
Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has been scouting locations to build a plant in Mexico, but has repeatedly stated that the factory will serve the local market and will not produce cars for sale in the US.
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Honda Motors
Honda Motor sends 80% of its production in Mexico to the US market. Its chief operating officer, Shinji Aoyama, warned in November that the company would have to consider moving production if the US imposed permanent tariffs on vehicles imported from Mexico.
JAC Motors
The Chinese company JAC Motors has had a joint venture in Mexico with Giant Motors since 2017 to assemble JAC brand vehicles. In August, SAIC, which owns MG, announced plans to build a plant in the country.
Kia Corporation
South Korea’s Kia Corp has a factory in Mexico that produces its own vehicles and a small number of Tucson SUVs for its affiliate Hyundai Motor, intended for export to the US.
Mazda
Mazda reported having produced around 209,000 vehicles in Mexico during 2024, exporting approximately 60% of them to the US. Its president, Masahiro Moro, commented in November that the tariff problem “cannot be solved by individual companies” and that they will carefully analyze the details before deciding how to respond.
Nissan Motor
Nissan Motor has two plants in Mexico where it manufactures the Sentra, Versa and Kicks models for the US market. During the first nine months of 2024, it produced nearly 505,000 vehicles in Mexico. The company did not reveal how many of these were exported to the US.
Stellar
The Franco-Italian group operates two assembly plants in Mexico: Saltillo, which makes Ram pickup trucks and vans, and Toluca, which produces the mid-size Jeep Compass SUV. It also owns two assembly plants in Ontario, Canada: Windsor, where it makes Chrysler models, and Brampton, currently under renovation and scheduled to resume production in 2025 with a new Jeep model.
Toyota Motor
Toyota Motor builds its Tacoma pickup truck in two plants in Mexico. In 2023, it sold more than 230,000 units of this model in the US, representing approximately 10% of its total sales in that market. Previously, Toyota produced the Tacoma in the US, but now they are all shipped from Mexico, which accounts for most of its plants’ production.
Volkswagen
The Volkswagen factory in Puebla is the largest automotive plant in Mexico and one of the largest in the VW Group, according to the manufacturer’s website. In 2023, almost 350,000 vehicles were produced there, including the Jetta, Tiguan and Taos models, all destined for export to the US.
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auto parts suppliers
Auto life
Sweden’s Autoliv, the world’s largest manufacturer of airbags and seat belts, employs about 15,000 people in Mexico, but declined to comment on exports from the country to the United States.
Michelin
The tire manufacturer Michelin has two plants in Mexico, located in Querétaro and León, and three in Canada: Pictou, Bridgewater and Waterville.
Yanfeng
Chinese seat manufacturer Yanfeng Automotive Interiors has been producing in Mexico for years to supply automakers such as General Motors and Toyota.
Others
Other parts manufacturers with plants in Mexico that supply automotive production for the US include Italy’s Pirelli (tyres), Italian premium brake maker Brembo and lamination firm Eurogroup Laminations.
Eurogroup Laminations, which counts Tesla among its clients, specializes in stators and rotors, key components of electric motors and generators.
US manufacturer Tesla encouraged its Chinese suppliers to set up plants in Mexico in 2023 to primarily supply its planned factory in the country. Tesla initially planned to begin production in Mexico in early 2025, but has largely shifted to an expansion plan for its plant in Texas.
Electronics
Foxconn
The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, Taiwan’s Foxconn, is building a massive AI server factory in collaboration with Nvidia in Mexico. It plans to start production in early 2025, making a liquid-cooled server with Nvidia’s powerful new Blackwell chip family.
Lenovo
Chinese computer maker Lenovo produces servers and other data center products at a large plant in Monterrey, Mexico, which it expanded in 2021. At the time, it reported that all of its data center products intended for the North American market are manufactured in Monterrey. .
LG Electronics
South Korean LG Electronics manufactures televisions, appliances and parts for electric vehicles in its Mexican facilities. In November, it said it was reviewing possibilities, including possible trade policy changes.
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Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics, also from South Korea, produces televisions and appliances in Mexico and exports them to the US.
Food and Drinks
Campari
Italian beverage group Campari has three production facilities in Mexico, including a main one dedicated to tequila under its Espolón brand, and one in Canada, which produces Canadian whiskey under the Forty Creek brand. According to Citi, 27% of its sales in the US come from imports from Mexico and Canada.
Packaged Products
Procter & Gamble y Unilever
Procter & Gamble and Unilever are among the big packaged goods companies exposed to tariffs on imports from Mexico, according to data.
About 10% of P&G’s shipments in the three months to the end of September came from Mexico, according to import data provider ImportYeti. About 2% of Unilever’s ocean imports to the US come from Mexico, according to the data.
Both companies, along with other large consumer groups such as Pepsico and Lay’s, have collectively invested hundreds of millions of dollars in their Mexican supply chains.
With information from Reuters
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