President-elect Donald Trump in late November pledged tariffs on the United States’ three largest trading partners – Canada, Mexico and China – detailing how he will implement campaign promises that could trigger trade wars.
Here are companies that may be affected (by sector, in alphabetical order):
AUTOMAKERS
AUDI
Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE), opens new tab Audi plant in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico, makes the Q5, employing just over 5,000 people. It produced nearly 176,000 cars in 2023, its website showed. In the first half of 2024, nearly 40,000 were exported to the U.S., according to the Mexican Automotive Manufacturers Association.
BMW
BMW’s (BMWG.DE), opens new tab plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, produces the 3 Series, 2 Series Coupe and M2, with nearly all the output going to the U.S. and other markets worldwide, according to the carmaker. From 2027, it will produce the all-electric ‘Neue Klasse’ model line.
BYD
Chinese EV maker BYD (002594.SZ), opens new tab has been scouting for locations to build a plant in Mexico but has said repeatedly that the factory will serve the domestic market and not produce cars to be sold in the U.S.
HONDA MOTOR
Honda Motor (7267.T), opens new tab sends 80% of its Mexican output to the U.S. market and its chief operating officer Shinji Aoyama warned on Nov. 6 that it would have to think about shifting production if the U.S. were to impose permanent tariffs on vehicles imported from the country.
JAC MOTORS
JAC Motors (600418.SS), opens new tab has since 2017 had a joint venture in Mexico with Giant Motors to assemble JAC brand vehicles. SAIC-owned (600104.SS), opens new tab MG in August announced plans to build a plant in the country.
KIA CORP
South Korea’s Kia Corp (000270.KS), opens new tab has a factory in Mexico that makes its own vehicles and a small number of Santa Fe SUVs for its affiliate Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), opens new tab for U.S. exports.
MAZDA
Mazda (7261.T), opens new tab exported around 120,000 vehicles from Mexico to the United States in 2023. Mazda President Masahiro Moro said on Nov. 7 that the tariff issue is “not a problem that can be solved by individual companies” and it would carefully examine the details before deciding its response.
NISSAN MOTOR
Nissan Motor (7201.T), opens new tab has two plants in Mexico where it makes the Sentra, Versa and Kicks models for the U.S. market. It produced nearly 505,000 vehicles in Mexico in the first nine months of 2024. The company does not disclose how many of those were exported to the U.S. market.
STELLANTIS
Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab operates two assembly plants in Mexico: Saltillo, which makes Ram pick-ups and vans, and Toluca, for the Jeep Compass mid-sized SUV. The Franco-Italian group also owns two assembly plants in Ontario, Canada: Windsor, where it makes Chrysler models, and Brampton, currently under retooling and scheduled to resume production in 2025 with a new Jeep model.
TOYOTA MOTOR
Toyota Motor (7203.T), opens new tab builds its Tacoma pick-up truck at two plants in Mexico. It sold more than 230,000 of them in the U.S. in 2023, representing about 10% of its total sales in that market. Toyota used to produce the Tacoma in the U.S. but now ships all of them from Mexico, which accounts for most of the production at the plants.
VOLKSWAGEN
Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE), opens new tab factory in Puebla is the largest auto plant in Mexico and one of the largest in the VW Group, according to the carmaker’s website. Nearly 350,000 cars were made there in 2023, including the Jetta, Tiguan and Taos, all for export to the U.S.
AUTO SUPPLIERS
AUTOLIV
Sweden’s Autoliv , the world largest maker of airbags and seat belts, said it employs around 15,000 staff in Mexico, declining to comment on exports into the U.S. from there.
MICHELIN
Tyre maker Michelin (MICP.PA), opens new tab has two plants in Mexico — Queretaro and Leon — and three in Canada: Pictou, Bridgewater and Waterville.
YANFENG
Chinese seat maker Yanfeng Automotive Interiors have been producing in Mexico for years to supply automakers including General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab and Toyota, which had relocated their capacity to Mexico to lower costs.
OTHERS
Other part makers with plants in Mexico serving automotive production for the U.S. market include Italian tyremaker Pirelli (PIRC.MI), opens new tab, Italian premium brake maker Brembo (BRBI.MI), opens new tab and Italy’s Eurogroup Laminations (EGLA.MI), opens new tab.
Eurogroup Laminations, which has Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab among its clients, specialises in stators and rotors, two key components of electric motors and generators.
U.S. automaker Tesla encouraged its Chinese suppliers to set up plants in Mexico in 2023 to mainly supply its planned factory in Mexico.
Tesla originally planned to start production in Mexico in early 2025 but has largely shifted to an expansion plan for its Texas plant.