Although U.S. tariffs are impacting the North American auto industry, Mexico’s market share of sector-wide imports to the U.S. increased during the first half of the year.
According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis this week, overall U.S. imports of automotive vehicles, parts and engines decreased by US $1.3 billion in June.
The decline — attributed to U.S. tariffs implemented earlier this year — affected the Mexican automotive industry, which saw automotive exports to the U.S. fall by 5.5% in June, compared to the same month a year ago.
Nonetheless, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Mexico solidified its position as the top supplier of automotive goods, exporting US $85.7 billion worth of cars, trucks, buses and autoparts to its northern neighbor during the first six months of the year.
Overall, Mexican automobile exports to the U.S. fell 3% year-over-year in the first half of this year, to US $22.1 billion. Meanwhile, autoparts sales to the same destination totaled US $40.7 billion, a 3.8% decrease compared to the same period in 2024, and exports of trucks, buses and specialty vehicles fell 10.5% to US $22.899 billion.
These totals represent 39.4% of all automotive goods imported by the U.S., easily surpassing the total of the next three countries combined: Japan (12.5%), Canada (12.4%) and South Korea (10.3%).
Mexico has seen its participation in the U.S. auto industry rise steadily since 2015 when its percentage of sector-wide imports to the U.S. stood at 30.5%.
The rise in Mexico’s percentage of imports from January to June 2025 came as the value of U.S. automotive imports fell significantly over the same period, declining 8.2% to US $217.82 billion.
Impact of tariffs to surge during second half of year
On March 26, U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on imports of automobiles and certain auto parts. The tariffs took effect for vehicles on April 3 and for autoparts on May 3, with partial exceptions for products meeting specified standards of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
In anticipation of the new tariffs, auto sales in the U.S. rose by 4.8% during the first quarter of 2025 as consumers rushed to buy before the tariffs drove up prices, boosted by tax refunds and a flood of automaker incentives.
But industry executives anticipated that the tide would turn once the tariffs took effect. Noting that Mexico ships more than 85% of its auto industry exports to the U.S., the country’s yearly automotive exports have been projected to fall by 12%.
The newly released data suggests the projection has some truth to it. As part of the 8.2% decline in overall U.S. automotive imports in June, imports of passenger cars decreased by US $1.1 billion.
The impact will likely be reflected in weaker first-quarter earnings for Toyota Motor and Honda Motor, both of whom produce key models for the U.S. market in Mexico.
Still, Mexico’s auto industry reached record production and export levels in June 2025, according to national statistics agency INEGI. The increase followed two consecutive months of declines linked to the new U.S. trade measures applied by the Trump administration.
It must also be noted that only 8% of the nation’s parts manufacturers are not in compliance with USMCA regulations, according to Mexico’s National Auto Parts Industry. The other 92% are USMCA compliant, and thus shielded from the brunt of the U.S. auto tariffs.
With reports from El Economista, Prodensa and Pro Mexico Industry
