Lego sideswiped by US-Mexico friction

TRADE DEFICIT

- YUSSEL GONZALEZ

Shoppers outside a Lego store in New York. Like other industries, the toy sector is being affected by trade tensions between the US, Mexico and China.

(NYT)

Manufacturing a Barbie or a Lego brick requires large quantities of plastic, much of which comes from China, the world's largest producer of the material.

So when Mexico hiked tariffs on the Asian giant at the start of 2026, its toy manufacturers, including local factories of Lego and Barbie-maker Mattel, had mixed emotions.

On the one hand, they cheered the clampdown on cheaper Asian imports but on the other were left wincing at the rising costs of their inputs.

The toy sector is one of a raft of industries impacted by a year of simmering trade tensions between US President Donald Trump's administration and Mexico, as well as China.

Mexico's car assembly industry, one of the biggest in the world, is also holding its breath, given its reliance on Chinese-produced car parts.

President Claudia Sheinbaum argues that the tariffs on China, India and other countries with which Mexico has no trade deal, aim to protect Mexican industry from cut-price competition.