By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-04-03 20:11:20 | Updated at 2025-04-04 13:59:57
17 hours ago
President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, the United States’ top trading partner, on Thursday welcomed her country’s exclusion from the list of nations targeted in US President’s Donald Trump’s latest round of import tariffs.
Sheinbaum told reporters Mexico was spared thanks to her government’s “good relationship” with the US administration.
Mexico’s economy is considered one of the most vulnerable to Trump’s tariffs due to its close trade relations with the United States and their joint membership of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on free trade.
More than 80 per cent of Mexican exports go to the United States, including about three million vehicles a year.
The Latin American nation is home to many foreign-owned vehicle assembly plants operated by companies including Ford, General Motors, BMW, Volkswagen and Toyota.
Trump has slapped a 25 per cent import tariff on foreign-made cars and light trucks, effective from Thursday, though with some exceptions for USMCA-covered vehicles and parts.
The move prompted multinational car company Stellantis, which has plants in the Mexican cities of Toluca and Saltillo, to announce on Thursday it was pausing production in Mexico, where it makes Dodge cars and Ram trucks.
