Scuttled Ford plant has Mexico fearing more under Trump

Mexicans have been nervous about Trump's tough rhetoric toward their country, including disparaging remarks about immigrants who come to the US illegally and vows to wall off the border and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, upsetting ties with what is by far Mexico's largest trading partner.

Two weeks before inauguration, the scuttling of the planned Ford factory and Trump's pressure on General Motors should be a "much-needed wake-up call," said Mexico analyst Alejandro Hope.

It shows "how much actual leverage Trump has within specific companies, which is far greater than what Mexican elites thought until recently," Hope said.

"They claimed that at the end of the day economic interests would prevail over political messaging. That's clearly not the case." In an editorial, El Universal also recalled the deal Trump struck in December with Carrier to keep 800 of 1,300 jobs at an Indiana furnace factory from being sent to Mexico, in return for millions of dollars in tax incentives. It also implicitly criticised the Mexican government's response to the incoming administration.

"Mexico loses thousands of jobs with no word on a clear strategy for confronting the next US government which has presented itself as protectionist and, especially, anti-Mexican," the paper wrote.

"Trump will try to recover as many US companies that have set up in Mexico as possible. He will try to make them return at whatever cost, through threats or using public resources." "Ford's decision is indicative of what awaits the economies of both countries," the daily La Jornada said.