Mass layoffs hit Ciudad Juarez as Trump tariffs and rising costs bite
Thousands of workers in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez have lost their jobs as assembly plants, or maquiladoras, struggle under U.S. tariffs, higher labor costs, and investor concerns over Mexico’s judicial reforms.
Since June 2023, Juarez has shed more than 64,000 factory jobs, including nearly 14,000 in just the first half of 2025, according to official data. The job losses have shaken a city where maquiladoras provide roughly 60% of employment, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Factories like Design Group Americas, which recently shut its Juarez operations and filed for bankruptcy, cite U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies as a key factor. Local industry leaders describe the sector as being in “crisis.”
Other pressures include a steep increase in the minimum wage—up from 22 pesos ($1.17) an hour in 2019 to 52.48 pesos ($2.80) in 2025—and investor flight following judicial reforms that replaced appointed judges with elected ones.
Mexico’s projected GDP growth for 2025 has slowed to below 1%, with Juarez’s downturn reflecting broader concerns about the country’s dependence on U.S. trade.
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