Honda is maintaining its production plans in Mexico, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard reported, refuting a report in the Nikkei newspaper that the Japanese automaker is considering moving its car manufacturing from Mexico to the United States.

"I have been asked about a note circulating regarding the automotive company Honda . In this regard, I can inform you that its directors in our country have told us that there has been no change to its production plans in Mexico ," wrote the Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, on the X platform.

Nikkei reported that Honda is considering moving some auto production from Mexico and Canada to the United States in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 25% tax on imported vehicles.

The goal: to ensure that 90% of cars sold in the United States are manufactured within the country.

Furthermore, Japan's second-largest automaker by sales has ambitious plans. It seeks to increase its production in the United States by up to 30% over the next two to three years.

To achieve this, it will take concrete steps. For example, it will move production of the CR-V SUV from Canada to the United States. It will also shift production of the HR-V SUV , currently in Mexico, to the world's largest economy, according to Nikkei.

Mexico, the main supplier of cars to the US

Mexico is the leading automotive supplier to the U.S. market , and President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration is negotiating the best possible tariff treatment with the United States due to the close integration between the two countries.

The United States is imposing 25% tariffs on automobiles imported from Mexico or Canada, effective April 3, 2025, and is planning 25% tariffs on certain auto parts, effective no later than May 3 (the exact date will be announced in a future notice).

According to the Mexican Automobile Dealers Association (AMDA), Mexican auto exports to the United States will pay a lower average tariff—approximately 15%—than other countries because a methodology will be created to proportionally discount the value of U.S.-origin auto parts used in these exported vehicles.

Automobile importers under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will have the opportunity to certify their U.S. content, and systems will be implemented so that the 25% tariff will only apply to the value of their non-U.S. content.

Nikkei reported that Honda is considering hiring more workers in the United States. This measure would allow it to operate with three shifts instead of two. It would also facilitate production on weekends.

Last year, the United States was Honda's largest market , accounting for nearly 40% of its global sales. In total, the automaker sold 1.4 million vehicles in the U.S., including Acura models. Approximately two-fifths of those cars were imported from Canada or Mexico.

An "automotive discount" is being negotiated

Last Friday, Ebrard said that Mexico is negotiating an "automotive discount" on the tariff rate the United States charges on imported motor vehicles, depending on the model and the integration of U.S. inputs and parts.

"There will be a discount per vehicle, or rather, per model, depending on how many U.S. parts it has," he said.

Ebrard also reported that the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will begin in the second half of 2025 .

"Today, it's steel and aluminum we want to address. And the discount for the automotive industry. And then the revision of the treaty will come," he told the press.

“We're in these steel and aluminum talks because, of course, we wanted no tariffs, but we're going to try to see how we can reduce the impact. And you always have to be in contact with the other countries. I mean, if all countries have 25, but we get a discount of 18, 17, or 16, then you have an advantage, even though you'd like to avoid that 16,” he said.

Ebrard then clarified that he didn't mention those percentages as a floor or ceiling, but merely as an example.

EL ECONOMISTA. Honda maintains production plans in Mexico: Ebrard