By: Luis Manuel Hernández G.
I increasingly hear that it is becoming less appealing to attend meetings that simply aim to follow an agenda or create “trending topics.” A couple of weeks ago, the Federal Government reported the loss of 11,000 jobs in Baja California a fact that cannot be overlooked.
On the other hand, manufacturing news reports note that tariffs have severely impacted corporate financial flows, even if some try to minimize their effect. This has given rise to what I call “the hallway manager”: someone who operates from their office, disconnected from the field, going from meeting to meeting, waiting for emotions to fade. In other words, they rely on management by forgetting.
The cash outflow required to pay tariffs forces us to reduce costs and increase productivity. Staff leaving the sector today are not being rehired. And if Mexico projects a 1.6% growth rate for 2026, it is concerning to assume it will be “a great year” without solving the pending issues already on the table.
USMCA, Capacity, and Productivity: The Real Challenges
Pursuing Artificial Intelligence is the most logical move according to global trends; however, we cannot ignore compliance and regulatory restrictions, especially when facing USMCA negotiations.
In the USMCA renegotiation, we must demonstrate clear progress in three key areas:
- Environmental compliance
- Health regulations (COFEPRIS)
- Legal and labor compliance
In early 2025, President Donald Trump stated that U.S. companies operating in Mexico often cannot obtain the necessary permits due to bureaucracy, lack of readiness, or a combination of both. And he is right: many companies here find it difficult to comply with operating structures similar to those in the United States.
Even more revealing, Mexico still does not appear among the top 10 countries for investment in either 2025 or 2026.
This should lead us to prioritize a critical focus: strengthening our capacity to attract greater corporate volume, while improving compliance before that volume arrives.
The loss of manufacturing jobs will not be recovered if Baja California grows at the same pace as the country. Additionally, the anecdote-turned-reality of the “superpeso” reminds us that Mexico has not developed a strategy to truly benefit from dollar depreciation. The “super peso” sounds great in headlines, but there is no economic infrastructure supporting it.
Meanwhile, the United States has increased tariff-generated income by 185.6% compared to 2024, representing an immediate cash outflow from companies and retailers totaling $257.5 billion dollars. Like any business, the government has budgets: as markets contract and income tax revenue drops, tariffs compensate. What is not recovered… someone must pay, and someone must save.
In this scenario, the question is no longer whether we should automate, but how fast we can do it. Productivity will be the only path to offset the impact of tariffs. Automation must take the driver’s seat as the key engine for Tijuana’s sustainable development and, by extension, the state’s.
Because while some continue managing from the hallway, those who act today will build the real competitiveness of tomorrow.
