Mexico’s market share of US auto imports keeps growing despite tariffs and trade uncertainty

Although U.S. tariffs are impacting the North American car industry, Mexico’s marketplace stock of sector-wide imports to the U.S. accrued during the archetypal fractional of the year.

According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis this week, wide U.S. imports of automotive vehicles, parts and engines decreased by US $1.3 cardinal successful June.

Mexico is providing a larger stock of U.S. car assemblage imports, adjacent arsenic the full worth of those imports has dropped. (Shutterstock)

The diminution — attributed to U.S. tariffs implemented earlier this twelvemonth — affected the Mexican automotive industry, which saw automotive exports to the U.S. autumn by 5.5% successful June, compared to the aforesaid period a twelvemonth ago.

Nonetheless, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Mexico solidified its presumption arsenic the apical supplier of automotive goods, exporting US $85.7 cardinal worthy of cars, trucks, buses and autoparts to its bluish neighbour during the archetypal six months of the year.

Overall, Mexican automobile exports to the U.S. fell 3% year-over-year successful the archetypal fractional of this year, to US $22.1 billion. Meanwhile, autoparts income to the aforesaid destination totaled US $40.7 billion, a 3.8% alteration compared to the aforesaid play successful 2024, and exports of trucks, buses and specialty vehicles fell 10.5% to US $22.899 billion.

These totals correspond 39.4% of each automotive goods imported by the U.S., easy surpassing the full of the adjacent 3 countries combined: Japan (12.5%), Canada (12.4%) and South Korea (10.3%).

Mexico has seen its information successful the U.S. car manufacture emergence steadily since 2015 erstwhile its percent of sector-wide imports to the U.S. stood astatine 30.5%.

The emergence successful Mexico’s percent of imports from January to June 2025 came arsenic the worth of U.S. automotive imports fell importantly implicit the aforesaid period, declining 8.2% to US $217.82 billion.

Impact of tariffs to surge during 2nd fractional of year

On March 26, U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs connected imports of automobiles and definite car parts. The tariffs took effect for vehicles connected April 3 and for autoparts connected May 3, with partial exceptions for products gathering specified standards of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

In anticipation of the caller tariffs, car income successful the U.S. roseate by 4.8% during the archetypal 4th of 2025 arsenic consumers rushed to bargain earlier the tariffs drove up prices, boosted by taxation refunds and a flood of automaker incentives.

But manufacture executives anticipated that the tide would crook erstwhile the tariffs took effect. Noting that Mexico ships much than 85% of its car manufacture exports to the U.S., the country’s yearly automotive exports person been projected to autumn by 12%.

The recently released information suggests the projection has immoderate information to it. As portion of the 8.2% diminution successful wide U.S. automotive imports successful June, imports of rider cars decreased by US $1.1 billion.

The interaction volition likely beryllium reflected successful weaker first-quarter net for Toyota Motor and Honda Motor, some of whom nutrient cardinal models for the U.S. marketplace successful Mexico.

Still, Mexico’s car manufacture reached grounds accumulation and export levels successful June 2025, according to nationalist statistic bureau INEGI. The summation followed 2 consecutive months of declines linked to the caller U.S. commercialized measures applied by the Trump administration.

It indispensable besides beryllium noted that only 8% of the nation’s parts manufacturers are not successful compliance with USMCA regulations, according to Mexico’s National Auto Parts Industry. The different 92% are USMCA compliant, and frankincense shielded from the brunt of the U.S. car tariffs.

With reports from El Economista, Prodensa and Pro Mexico Industry