If the imposition of tariffs lasts for at least six months, it would have an impact on employment and at least 500 thousand jobs would be lost due to the impact on the automotive, auto parts and manufacturing sectors, experts warned.
Ricardo Martínez, lawyer at the De la Vega & Martínez Firm, predicted that if tariffs last through the medium term, this would cause the closing of plants, particularly in the automotive sector.
“Mexico is already reaching a point of unemployment, it is showing a decrease in employment, a deceleration in the economy. The Country is planning a yearly creation of 400 thousand jobs, we would lose those annual jobs and that would bring the closing of an additional 100 thousand, then you would have a drop in employment of around 500 thousand, he said in an interview.
He added that companies like Ford and Nissan have already announced that they would have to reduce their workforce and even close plants due to the tariff measures taken by the United States.
“There is a risk to employment because, unfortunately, Ford’s CEO announced that if these tariffs are implemented, there will be a reduction of plants in North America and Nissan openly said that if the tariffs are implemented they would even remove plants from Mexico and this will take place in some other areas.
“If the United States maintains the position of imposing such high tariffs, in violation of the USMCA, this will create unemployment”, Martínez emphasized.
The situation would worsen if Mexico decides to respond with the imposition of tariffs on US products, he said.
For his part, Jesús Carrillo, economist at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), said that the damage to employment will depend on the duration of the tariffs on Mexican products.
“If these tariffs last for three months or more, this will clearly have an impact on the economic activity and the growth of this activity is related to the creation of jobs. These tariffs are focusing significantly on the manufacturing sector, and this could limit the capacity for growth in the industrial sector”, he said in an interview.
He explained that a first impact would be seen on formal jobs in the North and in the Bajío region, in the manufacturing sector, but also in the transportation sector if exports slow down.
“If this were to continue, industries associated with manufacturing could also suffer, examples of this are food, lodging and other businesses ranging from professional services such as lawyers, accountants, engineers, different people who provide professional services could also suffer. Many of those associated with commerce on a second stage”, he stated.
