Chinese Manufacturers Get Around US Tariffs With Some Help From Mexico
Plants and warehouses are sprouting up south of the border as companies try to avoid US duties.
Kuka Home’s factory at Hofusan Industrial Park.
Photographer: Marian Carrasquero/BloombergWhen César Santos was growing up in the 1960s, he spent his weekends surrounded by horses and cattle on his father’s ranch outside Monterrey, Mexico. Today, a red monolith emblazoned with the words “Hofusan Industrial Park” announces that the patch of dusty wasteland has a new purpose.
Located in a prime spot between Mexico’s industrial capital and the US border, Hofusan has become a haven for Chinese manufacturers looking to sidestep US tariffs and shorten supply chains that have been strained to a breaking point during the pandemic. The 11 plants and warehouses on the 850-hectare (2,100-acre) estate are part of the latest chapter in Chinese capitalism: The country dubbed the world’s factory now also exports white-collar managers to set up and run operations in places such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Mexico.