Japanese carmakers under pressure to produce more in the USA
- Japanese carmakers, even though they produce a lot in the United States (3.36 million vehicles produced in 2024, representing 35% of the total production carried out in the country), still import a lot from abroad. They imported 2.51 million vehicles in 2024, including 900,000 from Japan, 845,000 from Canada and 765,000 from Mexico. The announcement of 25% tariff (in addition to the existing tariffs) on automobile imports from abroad could therefore impact these 2.51 million vehicles.
- By carmaker:
• Toyota, which already has six plants in the United States, would however be the most impacted, with 1.08 million vehicles imported in 2024 from Canada (553,189 units), Mexico (192,813 units) and Japan (339,217 units).
• Honda, which has four plants in the United States, imported 443,185 vehicles last year, including 291,712 from Canada and 151,473 from Mexico.
• Mazda, which does not have a plant in the United States, imported 342,941 vehicles, including 207,546 from Japan and 135,395 from Mexico.
• Nissan, which has two plants in the United States, imports 326,124 vehicles, including 287,051 from Mexico and 39,073 from Japan.
• Subaru, which has only one plant in the United States, imports 209,900 vehicles from Japan.
• Finally, Mitsubishi, which no longer has a plant in the United States, imports 102,856 vehicles from Japan.
- If Japanese carmakers wanted to transfer part of their production to the United States (Mazda and Mitsubishi cannot), they would have to increase the capacity of their US plants or build new ones.