Automotive Industry in the USMCA: U.S. Manufacturing
The U.S. automotive industry is the largest among the countries in the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA), a trade agreement that began in July 2020.
According to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), the U.S. economy has higher levels of production, sales and trade than Canada and Mexico.
In the United States, vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers constituted the largest manufacturing sector in the country, accounting for more than 11.0% of U.S. manufacturing output and 1.9% of total U.S. output in 2022.
Also, the automotive industry accounted for more U.S. jobs than any other manufacturing sector in 2022, employing more than 291,000 people in motor vehicle manufacturing, 553,000 people in parts production, and more than 169,000 people in body and trailer manufacturing.
That year, the United States produced 10.0 million vehicles (68.1% of North American vehicle production) and sold 14.2 million vehicles.
Above all, vehicle production is located in the Midwest and Southeast regions of the United States.
The 11 automakers and more than 35 assembly plants in the Midwest region (Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio) produced the largest number of vehicles (4.9 million) in 2022.
Automotive industry in the USMCA
In 2022, three states in the Midwest region (Michigan, Indiana and Ohio) accounted for 77.5% of total vehicle production in the region.
On the other hand, the Southeast region (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) produced 3.8 million vehicles in 2022 and had 15 automakers with nearly 20 assembly plants.
Vehicle manufacturers in the rest of the United States (Arizona, California, Texas) produced 1.0 million vehicles in 2022 and had four automakers operating five plants.
While U.S.-based vehicle manufacturers had the largest presence in the Midwest region, the Southeast region had more foreign-based manufacturers in 2022.
Ford and General Motors (GM), along with Netherlands-based Stellantis (created by the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot S.A. in 2021) were the three largest vehicle manufacturers in the Midwest region, respectively, accounting for 74.6% of Midwest production in 2022.
In the Southeast region, Toyota, Ford and Nissan were the top vehicle producers.
Foreign-based vehicle manufacturers accounted for 79.9 percent of Southeast production in 2022.
Tesla (56.7 percent) and GM (30.9 percent) accounted for the largest share (87.6 percent) of production in the rest of the United States.
