By Vera Bergengruen and Aaron Zitner

WASHINGTON -- Eight years after Mexican cement giant Cemex declined to participate in building President Donald Trump's proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, one of its top executives was in Washington on Sunday with a more conciliatory message.

"Make North America great again!" declared Mauricio Doehner Cobián, a Cemex executive vice president , to enthusiastic claps at a Sunday brunch meeting of Mexican business executives and Trump officials in Washington.

The message underscored a stark shift from Mexican companies toward embracing Trump and co-opting his language in a way that was rarely seen during his first term.

Trump has vowed to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican goods and is expected to declare a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border when he takes office on Monday. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has warned that Mexico will retaliate with tariffs of its own and publicly mocked some of Trump's proposals, including his idea to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America."

Mexican companies are looking to escape the potential trade war by casting themselves as North American -- not Mexican -- businesses. They hope to either capitalize on Trump's promised pro-business policies or, in the worst case, qualify for tariff waivers.

"They are scared to death about tariffs," said Abraham Enriquez, who leads Bienvenido Empresarios, a coalition of Hispanic business executives, calling the opportunity to talk directly with Trump insiders on the eve of the inauguration "a blanket of security."

"Yes, there is a lot of nervousness about the possibility of tariffs," said Esteban Abascal, the CEO of Interamerican Foods, the U.S. subsidiary of the largest pasta manufacturer in Mexico, which announced a new $15 million production line at its factory in Cleburne, Texas. "But I believe that President Trump is a businessman, and I'm optimistic about what's to come."

Several other companies announced new U.S. investments, including Cemex, which said it planned to invest $4 billion to $6 billion in the U.S. within five years, up from $3 billion over the last six years.

The Mexican private sector is applying the lessons from Trump's first term, said Matías Gómez Léautaud, the lead Mexico analyst with risk-advisory firm Eurasia Group. "This is a very transactional president who gave us a very clear playbook of how he negotiates," he said. "This is very different from 2016, because there is an acknowledgment that Trump's priorities have to be taken seriously."

Among the attendees at the Sunday brunch were the son of Mexican mogul Carlos Slim, and Sheinbaum's economic adviser, Altagracia Gomez.

At a separate Hispanic inaugural ball at a Washington hotel Saturday, Latin American moguls and officials, including Presidents Javier Milei of Argentina and Santiago Peña of Paraguay, were serenaded by a mariachi band. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert Kennedy Jr. also attended.

Some executives acknowledged they were there to highlight their investments in the U.S., as well as the jobs they generate. Others reframed their projects to align with Trump's priorities, including halting the flow of migrants across the border.

"We believe our project will help stop migration to the United States, because the economic development will make people stay in the region," said Carlos Álvarez, the CEO of Mexican rail company REMED, which is leading a $1.7 billion project to build an 800-kilometer rail line to link Central American and Caribbean ports to North America through Mexico.

Xignux, a Mexican company with ventures that include producing electrical transformers in partnership with GE Vernova, said the company was expanding at three U.S. locations and already employed 1,900 U.S. workers.

Trump's expected tariffs had potential to hurt the company, as 60% of its production is in Mexico, said Ivan Rivas Rodriguez, a corporate affairs executive with the company. He hopes the incoming administration will see the national security value of the joint venture to improve the U.S. power grid.

Sheinbaum has said she hopes to have a good relationship with Trump. But she faces domestic political pressure not to be seen as capitulating to his threats to take steps on tariffs, immigration and drug-trafficking. In a recent poll by Mexican newspaper El Universal, more than 80% strongly oppose his intention to impose steep tariffs on Mexican goods.

"The private sector wants Americans to see we're one of you," Enriquez said. "We want to work with you, and we also employ you, right? So maybe exclude us."

Write to Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@wsj.com and Aaron Zitner at aaron.zitner@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2025 21:27 ET (02:27 GMT)

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