According to recent reports from foreign media, as Chinese companies enter Mexico, investment by Chinese companies in Mexico has reached a record high, one of the reasons is to avoid the Trump administration’s tariffs on China by building factories in neighboring countries of the United States .
The Mexican Secretariat of Economy reported that companies headquartered in China and Hong Kong invested $606.3 million in Mexico in 2021, a 76 percent increase from the previous year and the highest level since statistics began in 1999. This makes China the ninth largest investor in Mexico, after South Korea.
As of 2022, Mexico has attracted investment from 1,289 Chinese companies. China has become Mexico's second-largest import partner after the United States, according to the Secretariat of Economy.
Most Chinese companies investing in Mexico are manufacturers of home appliances and furniture. The U.S. imposed additional tariffs of 10 percent on Chinese products worth as much as $200 billion in trade in 2018, including refrigerators, air conditioners and furniture, and raised it to 25 percent in 2019.
Chinese appliance maker Hisense is investing $260 million to build a Mexican factory that will produce products for export to the United States, with plans to start production by the end of this year and mass-produce refrigerators.
Hong Kong furniture maker Man Wah is building a $300 million factory, while Zhejiang-based Gujia Home Furnishings announced in March it would expand its production capacity in Mexico.
"We want to avoid international trade barriers," said Zhongyuan Home Furnishings, a sofa maker that opened a new factory in Mexico's Nuevo Leon state in April.
Thanks to the USMCA, Mexico is very attractive to Chinese companies. The trade agreement, which goes into effect in 2020, allows Mexican companies to export to the U.S. tariff-free if they meet requirements such as using a certain percentage of North American-made components.
Mexico has historically attached great importance to its relationship with the United States, which is Mexico's largest trading partner. But the current president, Andres Manuel López Obrador, has placed a strong emphasis on Mexico's sovereignty and has not sided with the United States in sanctions against Russia or tensions with China, which has also prompted Chinese companies to increase their cooperation with the United States. Cooperation on the Mexican side.