US retaliatory tariffs on Chinese electric cars haven't even gone into effect yet, but they've already forced major market players to come up with ways to surround them. For example, the Chinese company BYD seems to have found the key to the US car market in the form of a car assembly plant in Mexico. Three sites have already been found to build a plant in Mexico, but work has not yet begun.
Sources at BYD's representative office, which is responsible for work in South and North America, reported that the reason for the delay was the upcoming US presidential election. The automaker will wait for their results to make a final decision on building the Mexican plant.
The thing is, Mexico is part of the North American Customs Union, which means minimum tariffs for member countries. However, US presidential candidates have already repeatedly declared their willingness to review tariffs on imports of goods of Mexican origin if such registration is used to circumvent the main tariffs.
The situation is unstable, and therefore the BYD company does not want to risk investments in the construction of the plant before at least some specifics appear from the newly elected US president. After this information was published in the press, the head of BYD's American representative office, Stella Lee, hastened to say that the company has not postponed the decision to establish a plant in Mexico and is still choosing one of the three construction sites.
The American Tesla also stalled in indecision on the construction of its Mexican production. Already in the spring of last year, Elon Musk announced that the construction of an electric vehicle assembly plant in Mexico should be completed by mid-2024. However, until now, the construction of the plant, as before, is in the initial stage. Unlike Ms. Lee, Musk spoke directly: the company is waiting for clarification of the situation in the global economy and trade.