The investment of Chinese companies in the automotive industry in Mexico generated concern among businessmen and legislators from the United States and Canada, according to press reports, because in the future it could damage production in their respective countries due to the subsidies granted by the Chinese government.
“Chinese FDI in Mexico is worrying in the United States and Canada,” published the newspaper El Norte. In addition, the Spanish newspaper El País today published the headline “The growth of the Chinese engine in Mexico worries the United States.”
With more than 260,000 vehicles imported from China in the last year, reported El País, Mexico is the second largest importer of Chinese cars after Russia, according to data from the supplier company LGS, specialized in analyzing logistics between China and countries in Latin America.
The president of the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA), José Zozaya, in an interview with El País, said that the high demand for Chinese vehicles in Mexico is due to low sales prices and flexible financing options. The demand is such that last October, the port authorities of Michoacán, Mexico's main commercial gateway with Asia, reported that there was insufficient equipment to transport Chinese cars from their ships, causing significant traffic congestion at the port.
According to El País, members of the United States Congress asked the US Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, to initiate an investigation into the commercial practices of Chinese companies.