Automobile Trade Statistics: Imports, Exports, and American Content

The Trump administration's tariff plans have thrust automobile supply chains into the spotlight. Here's what investors need to know.

By Jack Caporal – Updated Feb 24, 2026 at 3:54 PM EST | Fact-checked by Margo Winton Parodi

Key Points

U.S. has a $128 billion auto trade deficit in 2025, with significant deficits with Mexico, Japan, Germany, and Canada.
Vehicles frequently cross North American borders due to interconnected supply chains; USMCA allows duty-free exports.
Tariffs on foreign automobiles may reshape global supply chains, impacting costs and operations of international automakers.

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The United States has a positive automobile trade balance with most countries. However, its large deficits with a handful, including Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Canada, create an overall automobile trade deficit.

Most automobiles exported from Canada and Mexico to the United States have a significant amount of U.S. content, which isn't reflected in automobile trade balance data.

Analysts estimate that automobiles and auto parts can pass across North American borders over six times before final assembly. The U.S.–Canada–Mexico Agreement allowed vehicles to be exported duty-free among the three signatories if 75% of the vehicle content was of North American origin.

U.S. automobile trade with Canada

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The United States ran a roughly $12 billion automobile trade deficit with Canada in 2025. That's down from around $13 billion in 2024 but up from $8 billion in 2021.

Automobile manufacturing supply chains are highly interconnected between Canada, the United States, and Mexico as a result of NAFTA and the subsequent USMCA. That vehicles and parts will cross between the three countries multiple times before assembly is not apparent in the trade balance data for finished automobiles.

Trade in automobiles has been a foundational component of the U.S.–Canada economic relationship. The two countries signed the Canada–United States Automotive Products Agreement in 1965, which was later superseded by the more expansive NAFTA.

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U.S. automobile trade with Mexico

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The United States runs a consistent and significant automobile trade deficit with Mexico, totaling $40 billion in 2025, down from $45 billion in 2024, but up from $32 billion in 2022.

Through NAFTA, Mexico has become a platform for final vehicle assembly and parts manufacturing for North America. It's now the sixth-largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind Germany, India, Japan, the U.S., and China. Most automobiles assembled in Mexico are exported. Major automakers have assembly plants in Mexico, including:

Audi
BMW (BMW -3.25%)
Ford (NASDAQ:F)
GM (GM -3.41%)
Honda (HMC -5.05%)
Hyundai (OTC:HYMTF)
JAC Motors
Kia
Mazda (MZDAY -11.22%)
Mercedes Benz (MBGYY -2.52%)
Nissan (NSANY -9.52%)
Stellantis (STLA -5.83%)
Toyota (TM -6.01%)
Volkswagen (VWAGY -3.53%)
Tesla (TSLA -2.84%)

U.S. automobile trade with Germany

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The U.S. automobile trade deficit with Germany was $13 billion in 2025. The automobile trade balance has been in Germany's favor for years, although it narrowed in 2020 and 2021.

Germany is by far the largest auto exporter to the U.S. among EU countries. German auto brands, including Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, have warned that tariffs would harm profits. Those companies have assembly plants in the United States, but they don't produce every model or brand offered in the U.S. there.

The United States has long complained about the EU's 10% tariff on automobiles, which is higher than the 2.5% the United States has historically charged before the March 2025 tariff announcement. U.S. administrations have also claimed that U.S. automobile exports are stifled by the EU's different vehicle safety standards.

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U.S. automobile trade with South Korea

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The U.S. had a trade deficit in automobiles with South Korea worth roughly $29 billion in 2025. The imbalance in automobile trade between the two countries has steadily grown for more than a decade, although it did decrease by roughly $6 billion from 2024 to 2025.

The Trump administration, in its first term, renegotiated aspects of the U.S.–Korea Free Trade Agreement to increase U.S. automobile exports through regulatory streamlining and harmonization.

U.S. passenger vehicle exports to South Korea increased after the 2018 renegotiation, but growth stalled and declined to previous levels in 2023. Over the same period, South Korean vehicle exports to the United States grew from just over 800,000 to roughly 1.5 million passenger vehicles in 2024.

Hyundai and Kia have automobile manufacturing operations in the United States, including vehicle assembly, although not for all models. In March 2025, Hyundai announced a $21 billion investment in the United States, including a steel plant that will feed its automobile production in Alabama and Georgia, and an increase in assembly output at existing plants.

U.S. automobile trade with Japan

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About the Author

Jack Caporal is the Research Director for The Motley Fool and Motley Fool Money. Jack leads efforts to identify and analyze trends shaping investing and personal financial decisions across the United States. His research has appeared in thousands of media outlets including Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and CNBC, and has been cited in congressional testimony. He previously covered business and economic trends as a reporter and policy analyst in Washington, D.C. He serves as Chair of the Trade Policy Committee at the World Trade Center in Denver, Colorado. He holds a B.A. degree in International Relations with a concentration in International Economics from Michigan State University.

TMFJackCap

Jack Caporal has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft, General Motors, and Stellantis. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Why investors should care about automotive trade data

Not all companies are equally exposed to automobile tariffs, and trade and national content data can give investors clues into which manufacturers face the most tariff risk. Automakers will have to contend with an unpredictable trade landscape in the coming years. Tariffs could increase costs for companies that rely heavily on imports, leading to higher-priced vehicles or tighter profit margins.

Investors should be aware that Mexico serves as a crucial hub for final vehicle assembly and parts manufacturing, with major automakers including Ford, GM, and Toyota operating plants there. BMW and Volkswagen, which export vehicles to the U.S. from Germany, may also face a more challenging environment.

Tariffs have the potential to reshape global automobile supply chains, although potentially less so for companies that already use a high percentage of American content, such as Tesla and GM. Those companies may have a competitive edge in a tariff-rich environment.

Automobile Trade Statistics: Imports, Exports, and American Content

The Trump administration's tariff plans have thrust automobile supply chains into the spotlight. Here's what investors need to know.

Key Points

U.S. automobile trade with Canada

U.S. automobile trade with Mexico

U.S. automobile trade with Germany

U.S. automobile trade with South Korea

U.S. automobile trade with Japan

About the Author

Stocks Mentioned

Premium Investing Services

U.S. automobile imports, exports, and balance with every country

U.S. automobile trade with Canada

U.S. automobile trade with Mexico

U.S. automobile trade with South Korea

U.S. automobile trade with Japan

How much American content each automaker uses

Why investors should care about automotive trade data

Sources

U.S. automobile trade with Germany