Mexico, Japan and South Korea, in descending order, were the largest auto exporters to the United States in 2024 in value terms.
Surpassed by China, the U.S. auto market ranks second globally, and its auto imports in 2024 grew at a year-on-year rate of 4.3% to $216.806 billion.
Auto exporters
Local brands such as General Motors, Ford, Stellantis and Tesla, Japanese brands such as Toyota and Honda, South Korean brands such as Hyundai and Kia, German brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz and Chinese brands such as BYD, among others, are present in the United States.
A relevant fact: on February 9, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump told the press that he will probably announce reciprocal tariffs to unspecified countries this Monday or Tuesday.
By way of example, the United States imposes a 2.5% tariff on auto imports from countries with which it does not have trade agreements and which are part of the World Trade Organization (WTO), while the corresponding tariff charged by customs in the European Union is 10 percent.
Here are the top 10 auto exporters to the United States in 2024, in millions of dollars and year-over-year growth rates, according to Commerce Department data:
- Mexico: 49,743 (+11.1 percent).
- Japan: 39,936 (-0.3 percent).
- South Korea: 37,386 (+21.9 percent).
- Canada: 28,262 (-18.6 percent).
- Germany: 25,326 (+6.9 percent).
- United Kingdom: 9,715 (+48.8 percent).
- Slovakia: 6,255 (-3.7 percent).
- Italy: 3,946 (-22.0 percent).
- Sweden: 3,869 (-0.4 percent).
- China: 3,707 (49.2 percent).
Trump Tariffs
On February 1, 2025, Trump signed one of three separate executive orders announcing the implementation of 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico. These tariffs would go into effect on February 4, 2025. In response, both the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Mexico expressed their intention to apply retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products.
In this context, the executive orders also stated that, if Canada and Mexico imposed these reactive tariffs, the United States would respond with further retaliatory tariffs. However, on February 3, 2025, Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a temporary pause in Mexican tariffs for one month. This period would allow for the continuation of negotiations between the two countries. The same agreement was reached between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Finally, on February 9, 2025, Trump made a new announcement: the United States will impose a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from anywhere in the world.