MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Wednesday that a 25% across-the-board tariff proposed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would cause the loss of 400,000 jobs and slow growth in the United States, while also hitting Mexican exports.
“It’s a shot in the foot,” he said in a morning press conference, adding that Mexico wanted more regional cooperation and integration instead of a war of retaliatory import taxes.
Ebrard said the proposed tariffs would hit the automotive sector’s top cross-border export firms especially hard, namely Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) and push up vehicle prices for consumers by thousands of dollars.
Mexico is the United States’ top trade partner and its automotive industry is the country’s most important manufacturing sector, exporting mainly to the United States. It represents nearly 25% of all North American vehicle production.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for dialogue and cooperation between the two trade partners on Tuesday, the morning after Trump announced the measure which would appear to contravene a free trade pact Trump signed during his last mandate.
She hinted Mexico would respond with their own retaliatory tariffs, while analysts speculated on the possibility of a new trade war under Trump’s next presidency.
Mexico’s automotive industry group AMIA said it would prepare for any possibility and wait to see what formal actions are taken.
The North American free trade pact is up for revision in 2026.
