The nearshoring trend has reached new heights in Mexico this year. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of 2025 was up more than 10% year-on-year to reach $34.3 billion, with Q1 setting the all-time record. The largest share of that investment—roughly 36%—went directly into the manufacturing sector.
Behind these numbers were a host of stories, shifts, and developments that made Mexico a choice candidate for investment. What follows is a brief look back on the trends that proved most significant in 2025, and which can help manufacturing and supply chain executives enter the New Year with a grounded understanding of what Mexican nearshoring may yet have in store.
Mexico’s push for infrastructure
The Mexican government—both on the federal and state levels—has taken significant steps to strengthen the nation’s cross-border infrastructure. Projects like the Green Corridors guideway for autonomous shuttles, which is set to expedite freight lines between Nuevo León and Laredo by the early 2030s, and upgrades to the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) show that optimizing logistics capacity to meet the growing investment is a priority for President Sheinbaum’s administration.
These investments have inspired confidence among nearshorers that Mexico is willing and prepared to support not only the growth they are currently experiencing, but also the development that is yet to come.
Diversifying sectors
Manufacturing investment in 2025 was spread across diverse industries, with high-technology and export-oriented sectors leading the way. Automotive and electric-vehicle (EV) supply chains gained particular momentum as transport equipment manufacturing grew by 35% and accounted for nearly half of all manufacturing inflows. Aerospace, semiconductors, and chemicals are also among the more active sectors in Mexico this year.
Such a trend toward complex and integrated manufacturing speaks to the foundation that has been laid by those who have capitalized on inexpensive labor and proximity to the U.S. market. As more businesses follow suit, Mexico’s internal supply chains only become more conducive to complex manufacturing.
Global investment
The United States has retained its place as Mexico’s top foreign investor, pouring just under $15 billion into its southern neighbor. Investment came from all around the globe, however; Spain, Canada, and Germany rounded out the top four, while Asian nations like Japan, South Korea, and China each played their part to reach the impressive FDI figures of the year’s opening half.
Besides directly driving the nearshoring boom, these investments have demonstrated that Mexico remains an attractive manufacturing site on the global market. Diversified investment also softens the influence of any one foreign economy to ultimately yield more stable growth.
The impact of tariffs
The broad and sometimes volatile tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump has provided Mexico with a significant competitive advantage. The nation’s preferential status under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) left it with an average effective tariff rate of 8.28%—among the lowest in the world—while major competitors like China suffered from high levies and constant uncertainty.
With general unease about intercontinental supply chains and the push for a more self-sufficient North America already making East Asia less and less attractive for suppliers, Mexico’s status as a safe haven from U.S. tariffs has no doubt accelerated the nearshoring movement.
Innovative operating models
The manufacturing landscape has organized itself in several innovative ways to accommodate for the pace of the nearshoring wave. IMMEX-type shelter structures—acting as pre-established proxies for incoming nearshorers—have become a commonplace tool for entering the market swiftly while remaining tax- and compliance-ready. Contract manufacturing and hybrid “build-operate-transfer” (BOT) models have also emerged to increase flexibility and disperse risk. And, finally, brownfield expansions within established Mexican hubs have allowed for rapid operations scaling.
These approaches have collectively enabled businesses to leverage Mexico’s existing infrastructure and institutions for fast, effective, lower-risk nearshoring campaigns.
What does this mean for the future?
The trends that have driven Mexican nearshoring to set new records in 2025 show no signs of slowing. To the contrary, the development, diversification, investment, differentiation, and innovation that have materialized over the last 10 months indicate an accelerating manufacturing market—and one that seems poised to reach higher still in 2026.
