Helped along by the U.S. decision to decrease tech imports from China, Mexico is exporting record quantities of computer equipment and other electronics to such an extent that tech has overtaken automotive as Mexico’s leading export sector.
According to an analysis by Banco Base, national exports grew 7.64% in 2025, but shipments under heading #8471, which covers computer equipment, grew nearly 145% — a surge so outsized it knocked new automobiles off the top spot for the first time.
Leading the tech export boom are Chihuahua and Jalisco.
Chihuahua alone accounted for 46% of all computer equipment exports, while Jalisco contributed 23% — together representing nearly seven out of every ten dollars in Mexican tech exports. Both states saw their technology and electronics shipments drive overall export figures to record highs, with Chihuahua reaching an export value of almost $110 billion in 2025 (from 75 billion in 2024) and Jalisco climbing to nearly $53 billion (from $32 billion).
Jalisco had never before achieved the status of the leading non-border state in terms of exports.
The strength of Mexico’s export figures for electronics has a lot to do with computer equipment not being subject to any rules-of-origin restrictions, meaning that many products fall within the criteria of the USMCA free trade agreement.
As a result, the average U.S. tariff on Mexican electronics stood at just 0.45% throughout 2025, compared to the average tariff of 10.53% on the import of similar products from China.
Computer processors were the single most exported product, at $80.5 billion, with just 0.71% of their value subject to a 25% tariff, according to the deputy director of economic studies at Banamex, Rodolfo Ostolaza.
“Decades of investment in North American supply chains have created products that easily comply with the USMCA rules of origin,” explained Ostolaza in an interview with Forbes.
Mexico has been emphasizing higher-cost, more-profitable electronic products as demand for them has increased in the United States. Modernization is also solidifying through automation, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Move over cars; the computer is king
The increase in U.S. demand for computer equipment is driven by the growth in the country’s data center sector, with investment growing by 30% between 2024 and 2025 to reach $102.2 billion. Meanwhile, U.S. investment in information processing equipment and computers increased by nearly 22% last year.
In addition to Chihuahua and Jalisco, Baja California (13% of total tech exports), Tamaulipas (7%) and Nuevo León (5%) also made important inroads in the sector in 2025.
The equipment is mainly destined for six U.S. states, which accounted for 96.92% of related exports in 2025: Texas (67%), Georgia (10%), North Carolina (6%), California (5%), Arizona (4.11%) and Virginia (4%).
Employment in Mexico’s computer equipment manufacturing sector reached 331,411 workers in 2025, representing over 7% of total manufacturing employment.
While Mexico’s tech manufacturing sector has the potential to continue growing, it is currently operating at production capacity, meaning there is no room to increase output without investing in new facilities, according to the director of Banco Base Gabriela Siller.
With reports from Forbes México and El Informador
