Will the Trump Tariffs Put an End to Nearshoring in Mexico?

Don’t expect President Trump’s latest round of tariffs, either imposed or threatened, to trigger a boom in domestic manufacturing in the U.S. — or an end to the growth of “nearshored” production capacity in Mexico.

That’s the opinion of Ivan Hernandez, managing director for Latin America with QIMA, a provider of software and services to enable supply chain compliance in the consumer products, food and life sciences industries.

Among the stated goals of the Trump tariffs is to force American manufacturers to return production to the U.S. But this envisioned stampede of “reshoring” faces multiple hurdles and practicalities, Hernandez says.

One is the continuing shift in production from China and other parts of East Asia to Mexico. Hernandez says there’s been a “huge increase” in such nearshoring projects over the past two years by major retailers, brands and manufacturers.

“There’s definitely been a big change,” he says, citing Ciudad Juárez …