How Seriously Should We Take Trump's Mexican Auto Tariff Threat?

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

On Thursday, President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on cars entering the United States from Mexico if the nation doesn’t assist Washington in dealing with the migrant situation at its southern border. It’s a rather bold ultimatum, coming hot on the heels of claims that the White House was seriously considering closing the border entirely if Mexico could not curtail the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs heading north.

It’s an interesting situation, especially considering both outcomes would upend the automotive industry. But Trump argues that the growing reliance on Mexican manufacturing and proliferation of illegal immigrants has already hurt the United States badly. A contentious stance, for sure, but these are issues in need of thorough discussion. Gallup polls repeatedly peg immigration as one of the issues voters care most about — along with healthcare and the economy.

However, we only care about those things tangentially. It’s all about the cars for us.

The still-struggling United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) remains unratified, with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying additional changes must be made. Canada, however, is very hesitant to reopen trade talks.

“When it comes to the issue of actually opening up the agreement, that’s where Canada’s view is, we’ve done our deal,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Thursday. “This was a very intense negotiation. A lot of time, a lot of effort went into it, compromises were made on all sides, and we believe that people need to be very careful around opening up what could really be a Pandora’s box.”

As relations with Mexico have gotten better, it seems counterproductive for the president to start torpedoing his own trade agreement. Yet his words regarding the border are pretty black and white. “A lot of good things are happening with Mexico,” Trump told the media. “Mexico understands that we’re going to close the border, or I’m going to tariff the cars.”

It’s the latest in a series of car tariff threats; for the most part, they’ve been used as an economic bargaining chip. While this appears to be in the same vein, it also represents some backsliding against his earlier claims.

Initially, the president planned to close the border immediately, without any mention of automotive tariffs. But taxing imported vehicles has been a reoccurring theme during his tenure as commander-in-chief — making his latest threat to Mexico equal parts surprising and not. And that also makes it difficult to know how seriously to take him, despite assurances that he is “not kidding around.”

“I will do it,” he said. “I don’t play games.”

Automotive News reports that Mexican exporters are already considering sending their product into the United States via air freight to avoid a five-mile line of trucks at the border (caused by the Trump administration moving federal agents away from routine customs checks in order to help tackle illegal immigration). Air freight is much more expensive than shipping by ground and is typically only used by suppliers who need to get parts to a needy factory under dire circumstances.

Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Martha Bárcena, said her country will cooperate with the Trump administration to address the core causes of migration, but added that it would be impossible to halt it entirely. “Migration will never be stopped,” she said. “It is intrinsic to humanity. But what we can do is to do it in a regular way, in an orderly way that protects human rights.”

Trump has said he would still close the border if Mexico doesn’t help curtail large migrant caravans en route to the U.S., though agreed to give the country a year to think about it. No such timeline was available for the tariff threat. However, both solutions would have a huge impact on trade. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates the U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily — and the largest chunk of that belongs to automobiles and their components.

“The whole ballgame is cars,” Trump said. “It’s the big ballgame with many countries.”

[Image: Chess Ocampo/Shutterstock]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • 0Gravity 0Gravity on Apr 05, 2019

    It was said before, he's all talk and no action. His pattern is to create a crisis via tweet and then "fix" it by reversing course or abandoning his idea because no one around him implements it and he's too lazy and incapable of enacting his ideas. Big companies that were previously worried about him mostly ignore him now. As most of us should.

  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Apr 06, 2019

    That twitter based diplomacy - you can forget about it - it is just random thoughts - so 21st century - you cannot make it up. It applies to to anyone who is using twitter, FB etc to deliver "messages", like Elon Musk, AOC and complete zoo of Dem pres. candidates. Presidential elections in the West increasingly start looking like circus. Watch out the coming primaries- it will be lot of fun - prepare popcorn. The New Green Deal alone worth Oscar nomination for the best comedy screenplay.

  • SCE to AUX The fix sounds like a bandaid. Kia's not going to address the defective shaft assemblies because it's hard and expensive - not cool.
  • Analoggrotto I am sick and tired of every little Hyundai Kia Genesis flaw being blown out of proportion. Why doesn't TTAC talk about the Tundra iForce Max problems, Toyota V35A engine problems or the Lexus 500H Hybrid problems? Here's why: education. Most of America is illiterate, as are the people who bash Hyundai Kia Genesis. Surveys conducted by credible sources have observed a high concentration of Hyundai Kia Genesis models at elite ivy league universities, you know those places where students earn degrees which earn more than $100K per year? Get with the program TTAC.
  • Analoggrotto NoooooooO!
  • Ted “the model is going to be almost 4 inches longer and 2 inches wider than its predecessor”Size matters. In this case there is 6” too much.
  • JMII Despite our past experience with Volvo my wife wants an EX30 badly. Small, upscale, minimalist EV hatch is basically her perfect vehicle.
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