Both Toyota and Honda had previously warned the Canadian government that without the USMCA they would shift production from Canada to the U.S. to avoid tariffs and secure long-term manufacturing stability. We presume a similar message was conveyed to Mexico.
Earlier today Toyota announced they were moving half of their Tacoma Truck production from Mexico to an expanded facility in Texas that will now encompass 5 million square feet in San Antonio.
(Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp. is moving production of its popular Tacoma midsize truck from a plant in Mexico to San Antonio as part of a $3.6 billion investment in the Texas facility.
The Japanese carmaker will build a second production line in San Antonio, where it currently makes full-size pickups and SUVs, and add some 2,000 new jobs by 2030, it said Monday.
The shift, following Toyota’s pledge last year to spend $10 billion on its US manufacturing operations over the next decade, comes as talks between the US and Mexico to renew a North American free trade agreement have stalled. President Donald Trump, who has pressed Toyota to invest more in the US, let a July 1 deadline pass without a trade pact extension.
[…] By moving some production of its best-selling truck to Texas, Toyota will shield itself from the impact of tariffs on Mexican imports. Autos shipped from Mexico are subject to US duties as high as 25%, which has hit Toyota and other automakers’ bottom lines and upended decades of cross-border production planning.
The expansion in San Antonio, which is nearly twice as large as had been anticipated, will double the size of the plant to about 5 million square feet. And it will bring Toyota’s total spending at the site to $8.3 billion since it broke ground there 23 years ago. (read more)
