Nissan CEO: We Might Move Car Manufacturing Out of Mexico Over Trump Tariffs

U.S. President Donald Trump departs the White House on Feb. 14, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida signaled that if the United States imposes 25 percent tariffs on products from Mexico, the automotive company may have to move production out of that country.

“We are exporting a large volume to the U.S., so if there’s a high tariff, this will have huge implications on our business, so we need to monitor this carefully,” Uchida said in a news conference on Feb. 13 when he was asked about potential tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Mexico.

Nissan exports a “significant number” of cars to the United States from Mexico, the chief executive said.

“If the high tariffs are imposed, we need to be ready for this,” Uchida said. “And maybe we can transfer the production of these models elsewhere. If this were the decision, we will think how we can make it a reality while monitoring the situation.”

After the November 2024 election, President Donald Trump warned Mexico and Canada that his administration would impose 25 percent tariffs if the U.S. border countries failed to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The president said in January that those tariffs would go into effect in early February. But after talks with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, he postponed them for another month.

Trump, however, levied an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China over what he said was the Chinese regime’s failure to curb the production of fentanyl precursor chemicals that ultimately make their way into the United States. During the first Trump administration, he placed tariffs on Chinese products, many of which the Biden administration kept intact.

The additional 10 percent levy prompted the Chinese regime to announce retaliatory tariffs targeting natural gas, coal, farm equipment, and other products coming from the United States.

Before the tariff postponement was announced, Mexico and Canada also signaled that they would take retaliatory action against the United States. The premier of Ontario warned that Canada could cut off energy supplies to several northern U.S. states.

Meanwhile, Trump has said he would impose reciprocal tariffs on products from other countries, including India and the European Union, and also take broader actions. Last week, Trump signed an order that bolstered tariffs on all aluminum and steel imports into the United States.

Those “tariffs on steel and aluminum will support the program’s original objective of revitalizing the domestic steel and aluminum industries and achieving sustainable capacity utilization of at least 80 percent,” the order stated.

Uchida’s comments came after his company and rival Japanese automaker Honda canceled talks for a merger earlier this month.

“As a result of these discussions, both companies concluded that, to prioritize speed of decision-making and execution of management measures in an increasingly volatile market environment heading into the era of electrification, it would be most appropriate to cease discussions and terminate the [memorandum of understanding],” the companies said in a joint statement.

Reuters contributed to this report.