Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said if President Trump follows through on his plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on imported goods from Mexico, the company might be forced to move its production out of Mexico.
During a Thursday press conference on the company’s third quarter financial results, Uchida warned of the “huge” consequences of such a tariff policy.
“We are exporting a large volume to U.S., so if there’s a high tariff, this will have huge implications on our business, so we need to monitor this carefully,” Uchida said when asked about Trump’s tariff policies, according to a translation from Reuters.
Uchida said the company exports a “significant number” of cars from Mexico to the United States — 320,000 units in this fiscal year alone. He floated the possibility of moving production elsewhere if the tariffs materialize.
“If the high tariffs are imposed, we need to be ready for this,” Uchida said. “And maybe we can transfer the production of these models elsewhere. If this were the decision, we will think how we can make it a reality while monitoring the situation.”
Trump has threatened to use tariffs liberally on imported goods, potentially sparking wide-reaching trade wars.
He initially announced a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico but agreed to delay them after those two countries announced additional actions to secure their borders with the United States.
He also imposed a 10 percent tariff on all imports from China, prompting China to announce retaliatory tariffs targeting liquefied natural gas, coal, farm machinery and other products from the United States.
Last Monday, Trump signed a proclamation to bolster tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States. Mexico is among the top exporters of steel to the U.S.
