(Bloomberg) -- Mexico has not received a “firm” project proposal from China’s BYD Co. for a plant in Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday.
The president was responding to a question on whether China’s top electric-vehicle maker will open a plant in the country.
Chinese EV sales have grown in Mexico amid a global shift toward electric cars in the past years, with companies including BYD announcing plans to invest in manufacturing in the country.
The investment push by Chinese firms in certain industries, such as EVs and semiconductors, has sounded alarm bells in Washington amid escalating trade tensions between the two countries. The election of Donald Trump and his threat of tariffs has also raised questions on whether Mexico would change its approach with regard to Chinese investment just as it needs foreign projects to promote economic growth.
BYD put the plans for the Mexico plant on pause as it awaited the results of US elections, Bloomberg News reported in September. Earlier this month, BYD’s Mexico chief Jorge Vallejo said the company was evaluating three finalists among 20 states that have offered to be the site for its first Mexican manufacturing plant.
BYD doesn’t have a “plan B” if the plant falls through due to US political pressure, Vallejo said. The automaker plans to sell 50,000 vehicles in Mexico this year and 100,000 in 2025.
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