Mazda considers shifting production to Alabama plant in response to proposed Trump tariffs
The auto industry is bracing to see whether the incoming Trump Administration will follow through on a proposed 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada.
But Alabama might benefit from such a move, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mazda could move some vehicle production to its joint manufacturing plant with Toyota in Huntsville in response.
In November, President-Elect Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the two nations don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders.
The threat of duties that high prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fly to Florida on Friday to have dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club.
Tariffs that high would particularly impact automakers which have moved many vehicle and parts production lines to Mexico for cheaper labor expenses. Analysts say the tariffs would be passed on to buyers and would hit the most affordable cars and SUVs the hardest, and at a time when car prices are already at near-historic highs.
Wolfe Research, for example, estimates the tariffs could add about $3,000 to the average cost of every car sold in the U.S., as an estimated $97 billion worth of auto parts are imported to the U.S. from Canada and Mexico each year.
So how would automakers respond to a move that could hammer their bottom lines?
Tom Donnelly, CEO of Mazda North American Operations, told The Wall Street Journal that the company “could consider building more vehicles in Alabama” or importing them from Japan.
The company currently makes its Mazda3 and the CX-30 SUV in Mexico, which makes up about 30% of the company’s U.S. sales volume.
“No business can absorb immediately something like what’s being proposed here,” Donnelly told the paper.
Mazda currently makes the CX-50 in Huntsville. In November, the last month for which sales figures are publicly available, Mazda reported its best November sales of the CX-50, with 7,072 vehicles sold. By November Mazda reported a yearly increase in its overall sales of 18.6%.
About 4,000 people are employed at Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA in Huntsville. The plant also manufactures the Toyota Corolla Cross.