NASCAR, US Economic Diplomacy + Global Supply Chains

Mexico-NC news topics over the last month

Debate over the judicial reform

• Mexico’s president is going through with sending a reform, supported by the president-elect, to Mexican legislators in which judges in Mexico’s federal judiciary will be elected rather than appointed. Likely to pass in Congress given the reform is popular among Mexican voters and the party coalition that controls Mexican Congress, the reform is attracting a conspicuous amount of international scrutiny. In particular the media is widely focused on questions of legal certainty for investors, which seems to be the reason the dollar has risen to almost 20.00 MXN since June (when it was trading in the 16’s). The Mexican think tank, México ¿Cómo Vamos?, summarizes neatly (in English) various domestic and international objections to the reform.
• In particular, the US Embassy has criticized the reform as anti-investment, which is a break from normal US policy to not weigh in on domestic matters in Mexico. The US response may be doing damage to its economic mission in Mexico given that the Mexican administration has temporarily suspended engagement with the Embassy as a result of Embassy pronouncements.

NASCAR added Mexico City to its Cup Series schedule

• Ben Kennedy explained that June 14-15, 2025, Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez will be the destination of the first NASCAR Cup Series export since 1958. Looking for “the right time, the right partners, and the right location, Mexico City checked every box,” he said.
• NASCAR’s Mexico Series has in fact been running since 2004, a joint venture with the Mexican entertainment group Ocesa (now 51% owned by Live Nation). Mexico City also hosted NASCAR Xfinity Series events from 2005-2008.

Supply chain mania.

• Automotive investment: A new line that has emerged recently is Mexico is gaining grounds to position itself as the top global manufacturing cluster for electric vehicles in the world. New plant announcements and figures stream in every month from around the world, but perhaps a useful datapoint to keep in mind is this: a newly announced Ford investment to convert its plant in Irapuato to work with its existing Mustang Mach-E plant in Cuautitlan Izacalli, is worth 273 million USD. Stellantis also inaugurated the STLA Large platform at its Toluca plant on August 20, and the location is now producing the electric Jeep Wagoneer S for 41 markets. Audi announced in June it is installing production of its e-tron technology at its Q5 plant in Puebla, an investment of 943 billion USD that will have that plant become its main global producer of electric Q5s.
• NC-Mexico Nearshoring and Trade Summit: With sponsorship from Aeromexico/Delta and RDU, NC local Southward Advisors are organizing a a Mexico-North Carolina trade networking day in Raleigh, September 19.
• Last week we attended a well-attended symposium on semiconductors hosted by the US Government in Mexico City. CANIETI, Mexico’s perhaps most active IT association, was present to talk about electronics dynamism in Jalisco, which has all phases of the semiconductor supply chain up and running except for wafer fabrication, as well as “its own CHIPS Act” that has driven 50 million USD in workforce investment over the last 2 years. Several semiconductor “anchor” companies spoke about supply chain development efforts for Mexico focused around semiconductor assembly, packaging and testing.
  • Mexican legislatures and agencies are expected to advance initiatives promoting the semiconductor industry starting in the next year, and last week’s symposium, an initiative related to the CHIPS Act, included panels on compliance, economic development, workforce development, taxes and customs enforcement to enable a semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem to thrive in the Americas, and especially in Mexico. Despite the above-mentioned “pause” invoked by Mexico’s federal government in relations with the embassy, the Secretaría de Economía as well as the Secretaría de Educación Pública were present, and SE, “owner” of a key federal interagency agreement on semiconductors in Mexico, spoke on more than one panel during the two-day event.

Trade events on our radar

Our office tracks events that may be useful for NC companies to keep in mind either as shows to walk, conferences to catch or forums for exhibition in Mexico. Below are those we have listed as coming up in the next couple of quarters.