Mexico expects to reach an agreement with the United States before the end of 2026 to reduce tariffs on products including automobiles and aluminum, Mexican Ambassador to the United States Roberto Lazzeri said on Thursday on Bloomberg Television. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer scheduled talks on Thursday with Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, with a subsequent round set for late September alongside the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Tariff talks and factory output
The United States imposed a 25 percent tariff on vehicle imports on 3 April 2025, followed by duties on 3 May 2025 targeting components failing to comply with rules of origin. Lazzeri said both sides share the overall goal, arguing that US tariffs imposed on Mexican imports under Sections 232 and 301 create market distortions that benefit third economies rather than domestic American producers. He noted that investors keep capital commitments on hold while awaiting clarity across closely linked cross-border supply chains.
Automotive manufacturing represents 4 percent of Mexican national GDP. It generates 20.5 percent of manufacturing GDP. Output fell over recent months.
Auto production and export shifts
Data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) and the Mexican Automotive Industry Association (AMIA) show light vehicle production fell 1.43 percent year-on-year in August 2026 to 344,940 units, a decrease of 5,011 vehicles compared to August 2025. In contrast, vehicle exports rose 1.26 percent year-on-year during August 2026 to 300,475 units, up by 3,741 units from the 296,734 vehicles shipped abroad in the same month a year earlier.
The August figures followed a sharper contraction in July 2026, when vehicle exports dropped 9.69 percent year-on-year to 261,534 units and production declined 2.19 percent to 302,673 units. Total light vehicle production reached 2,645,140 units during the first eight months of 2026, marking an annual decline of 0.72 percent, or 19,277 fewer vehicles than the 2,664,417 units assembled during the comparable eight-month period in 2025 under Donald Trump’s trade policies.
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Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi)
