How Chinese firms are using Mexico as a backdoor to the US
By Will Grant
The reclining armchairs and plush leather sofas coming off the production line at Man Wah Furniture’s factory in Monterrey are 100% “Made in Mexico”.
They’re destined for large retailers in the US, like Costco and Walmart. But the company is from China, its Mexican manufacturing plant built with Chinese capital.
The triangular relationship between the US, China and Mexico is behind the buzzword in Mexican business: nearshoring.
Man Wah is one of scores of Chinese companies to relocate to industrial parks in northern Mexico in recent years, to bring production closer to the US market. As well as saving on shipping, their final product is considered completely Mexican – meaning Chinese firms can avoid the US tariffs and sanctions imposed on Chinese goods amid the continuing trade war between the two countries.
As the company’s general manager, Yu Ken Wei, shows me around its vast site, he says the move to Mexico has made economic and logistical sense.
“We hope to triple or even quadruple production here,” he says in perfect Spanish. “The intention here in Mexico is to bring production up to the level of our operation in Vietnam.”
The firm only arrived in the city of Monterrey in 2022, but already employs 450 people in Mexico. Yu Ken Wei says they hope to grow to more than 1,200 employees, operating several new lines at the plant in the coming years.
