How Mexicans Are Responding to Trump’s Tariff Threats

A large majority of Mexican consumers (77%) have recently seen, read, or heard something about U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats (now partially come to pass) to impose tariffs on goods from Mexico, and they say these threats primarily make them feel angry (54%) and patriotic (38%). We have seen how upset and patriotic consumers — most recently in the case of Canada — can channel their desire for retaliation towards U.S. brands into boycotts. This effect has appeared most strongly in categories with broad consumer bases like quick service restaurants and food & beverage, but other industries like entertainment and travel may also be impacted. Mexico differs in some important ways from Canada, and we expect boycotts south of the border to be shorter in duration and have a more limited impact on U.S. brands. 

Mexicans’ views of the United States turned negative after tariff threats

Much like in Canada, Mexicans’ views of the United States were net positive heading into Trump’s inauguration, though some trepidation around the November election caused views of the United States to sink slightly. Mexican consumers took a wait-and-see approach. But when President Trump reiterated his intention to hit Mexico with 25% tariffs a mere day after the inauguration, Mexicans’ views of the United States dropped precipitously. Despite their anger, Mexicans’ views did not drop as much as Canadians’ did in response to similar tariff threats, and they almost immediately began to creep back up once reaching their nadir. Still, some Mexicans say they are taking action.

Mexicans say they are avoiding U.S. goods, services, and retailers

A third of Mexican consumers say they have stopped buying at least some products made in the United States, and a similar share say they are avoiding goods sold by U.S. companies. Just over 1 in 4 consumers say they are similarly avoiding services from U.S. companies. An additional one-third of Mexicans are considering each of these measures, but haven’t yet taken action. 

When we look at purchase consideration, the top 10 U.S. companies that have seen purchase consideration declines in Mexico from January to March 2025 are clustered in the food & beverage, retail, automotive, and entertainment industries. The latter show smaller declines, while food & beverage dominates the top three spots with the largest drops. 

Of course, many other factors affect purchase consideration besides geopolitics. There may also be some spillover from boycott movements among Latinos within the United States targeting companies that cut DEI initiatives. The timing of the declines, however, supports the idea that Trump’s tariff threats are playing a major role in turning consumers off of U.S. products. Our trended data further supports this interpretation of events. If we pull out the retail, automotive, and food & beverage industries (including restaurants) and look over time, we see significant drops in average purchase consideration coinciding with Trump reiterating tariff threats against Canada and Mexico after his inauguration. This matches the literature on boycotts, which indicates that people first think of highly visible, familiar consumer products they believe they can easily cut out or substitute. 

Let’s make a deal 

Mexicans are ready to play ball. They are supportive of President Sheinbaum, who enjoys a strong electoral mandate, and of enhancing border security and cooperating more with the United States to combat the flow of fentanyl if Washington imposes additional tariffs, measures which would arguably benefit populations on both sides of the Rio Grande. 

Mexicans are less enthusiastic (37% in favor and 52% opposed) about the government agreeing to keep Central American migrants in Mexico while their U.S. asylum cases are pending under the reinstated “remain in Mexico” policy. Mexican adults do still want to retaliate against Washington’s tariffs (60%), and Sheinbaum has previewed targeted retaliatory tariffs should the full 25% U.S. tariffs come into effect, but the actual products and amounts are unclear. The Mexican president has also hit back in less tangible ways, including trolling President Trump’s push to rename the Gulf of Mexico in a viral video advocating relabeling large swathes of U.S. territory “Mexican America.” 

Mexican boycotts are likely to be less impactful and of shorter duration than Canadian boycotts

Overall, our assessment is that Mexican boycotts will be less long-lived and impactful than Canadian boycotts for a couple of reasons. 

Mexicans are less affluent than Canadians, so withholding their purchasing will be less impactful on the revenues of boycotted brands unless Mexico is a particularly important market for a given company. As noted above, even while favoring retaliation, Mexicans are strongly in favor of their elected officials making concessions and cooperating more on drug trafficking and migration in light of the tariffs. Mexican president Sheinbaum is near the beginning of her single six-year term and enjoys a strong mandate. She has considerably more political room to maneuver. In contrast, Canadians are facing imminent elections in which strong talk on tariffs could help Mark Carney and the Liberals snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

And while Mexicans are angry at the ramped-up tariff rhetoric, in contrast to Canadians, they are probably used to having a more tense political relationship with the United States — and certainly with the first Trump administration — characterized by stereotyping related to migration and illegal drugs. Mexican consumers who are inclined to do so are likely to have already considered their consumption patterns in light of their political relationship with the United States, making the current shock less impactful. Importantly, the Trump administration has also not floated annexing Mexico as the 51st (or 52nd) state, as it has with Canada. Mexicans seem to see the current moment as particularly bad for migrants, but not categorically different from the preexisting U.S.-Mexico relationship. If a deal is struck to avoid tariffs going forward, we expect brand favorability and purchase consideration to rebound quickly in Mexico.