In Tamaulipas, the manufacturing and vehicle export sectors are already feeling the impact of the tariffs imposed on Mexican products by the United States, even two months ago, however the measure has accelerated the crisis.
Jobs in the manufacturing sector, which have fallen by 2.4 percent in the last year, will now feel the impact of the application of tariffs by the United States government, as a drop in the manufacture of inputs exported to that country by companies is expected and further cuts are expected to occur since mid-2024, reflected in Reynosa.
At the same time, the export of automobiles through the port of Altamira began to be affected before the tariff measures applied by the United States, as in two months the movement of units manufactured in Mexican territory and destined for the North American market fell by 50 percent.
Reynosa and the manufacturing crisis
This city, which concentrates 137 companies in the Index organization with 145 thousand direct jobs, is contemplating a reduction in the demand for products, said Roberto Cruz, president of the National Chamber of Commerce (Canaco) in the border municipality, a trend derived from the lack of investment in new plants or the expansion of current ones.
This economic division, the most important in the state due to the number of members of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), has lost almost 9 thousand formal positions in the last 12 months, although in January it recovered only 1,500. The industry on Reynosa soil registers half of the 284 thousand members of the entire entity.
“The tariffs impact even more a paralysis in the manufacturing sector that has been dragging on since recent months, reflected by the lack of new investments, waiting for how this situation would end. This will deepen these job losses and it is a trend that was not even evident at these levels during the pandemic,” he said.
Mexican and American companies, as well as Asian ones, have been established in the last decade for the manufacture of auto parts, electrical and electronic equipment, as well as medical equipment, all sent to the neighboring country to the north. Both in the city and in Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, the historical maximum of accumulated workers occurred in March 2022, with 319 thousand. Since then, it has been declining.
“At the moment, production remains the same, but several firms are preparing to slow down that pace, as merchandise becomes more expensive due to these taxes. If there are no changes, eventually, due to less manufacturing, employees will be laid off,” added the president of Canaco, emphasizing that the industry represents 50 percent of local economic activity.
Movement of cars in the port of Altamira
The export of cars is considered the main line of business for the Administration of the National Port System (Asipona) in Altamira, so in its recent report presented to the community of the southern area of Tamaulipas, between January and February 43,500 vehicles were shipped, however, the figure is lower than the 85,700 recorded in the aforementioned period of 2024.
The above is part of what was mentioned by the Association of Industrialists of Southern Tamaulipas (Aistac) regarding the loading of both cars and other merchandise through the fiscalized area, as a preventive measure of factories and assemblers is given, reducing their pace, coupled with the decrease in the routes of the shipping companies.
Regarding the motor units, in the present exercise 24 thousand were reported in January and 19 thousand 400 in February. The latest figure is the lowest in almost a decade and on a monthly basis, when the average through this port is around 36 thousand vehicles.
Precisely in 2024, Altamira registered a record of exports by exceeding half a million cars and heavy units, supported by the expansion of yards of the companies ATP and IPM, in charge of serving brands such as General Motors, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, BMW, Kia and International.
It did not only happen in the automotive sector, at a general level the port is in a 22 percent reduction of all cargo that includes general loose cargo, containers, and mineral bulk. The only one with growth is petrochemical fluids, which are up 22 percent.
It should be noted that all this information was presented by Asipona Altamira days before the application of tariffs by the Donald Trump government.
Source: milenio
