Aluminum Scrap Markets
July 8, 2026
Toyota to shift Tacoma production back to Texas as USMCA review continues
Written by Nicholas Bell
Toyota Motor North America plans to invest $3.6 billion to expand its San Antonio manufacturing campus, returning some Tacoma production to Texas after a prior North American production realignment moved the midsize pickup out of the state and into Mexico.
The expansion will add a second vehicle assembly line to Toyota Texas and add 2.5 million square feet to the San Antonio campus. Toyota said it will transition Tacoma production from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Baja California to the expanded Texas plant over roughly four years.
The announcement came July 6, five days after the US trade representative said the US would not renew the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form during the pact’s first joint review. The agreement remains in force while negotiations continue.
Tacoma shift reverses earlier move
Toyota’s latest announcement reverses part of a production strategy the company outlined shortly after revised USMCA terms were agreed in December 2019.
On Dec. 10, 2019, the US, Mexico, and Canada agreed to amendments to the proposed USMCA.
Those changes included tighter automotive rules of origin, a requirement that 75% of vehicle content originate in North American and a requirement that 70% of a vehicle’s aluminum and steel originate in the region.
During the same month, Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Guanajuato began assembling the Tacoma, joining Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Baja California, which had produced the pickup since 2004. One month later, Toyota announced San Antonio would stop producing the Tacoma by late 2021 while Baja California and Guanajuato continued to assemble the truck model.
Toyota also expanded Tacoma production in Baja California before the USMCA entered into force. In 2018, the company increased the plant’s annual Tacoma production capacity to 160,000 vehicles from 100,000.
Now, during the first formal USMCA review, Toyota plans to move Tacoma production from Baja California back to Texas.
Recent Tacoma sales
The Toyota Tacoma remains one of Toyota’s top-selling models in the US.
Toyota sold 143,848 Tacoma pickups during the first half of 2026, up 9.9% from the first six months of 2025, while total Toyota Motor North America sales increased 0.5% over the same period.
The Tacoma ranked behind the Camry, at 179,044 units, and the RAV4, at 153,955 units, among Toyota’s highest-volume models in the US market.
Camry sales increased 15.3% year over year during the period, while RAV4 sales declined 35.7%. Total Toyota division pickup sales increased by 6% to 218,216 units.
Surrounding aluminum supply chain
The move also places Toyota’s regional manufacturing footprint back in focus because vehicle assembly determines where manufacturing scrap is generated.
Toyota Tsusho, the Toyota Group trading company, is affiliated with Green Metals Inc. through Toyota Tsusho America. Green Metals lists a San Antonio location at the same street address as Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas.
Toyota Tsusho is also affiliated with TT Green Metals Mexico, S.A. de C.V., which has a location in Guanajauto, where the other Tacoma assembly plant is located.
Toyota didn’t discuss recycling operations in its expansion announcement. However, shifting Tacoma production from Baja California to Texas, where the San Antonio plant currently has annual production capacity of at least 200,000 vehicles and is slated to add a second assembly line, could affect regional manufacturing scrap generation.
Through Toyota Tsusho, the Toyota Group also maintains an affiliated downstream recycled aluminum smelting network. In Mexico, Toyota Tsusho has an affiliated secondary aluminum smelter near its Guanajuato assembly plant and TT Green Metals Mexico but not near Baja California. In the US, Toyota Tsusho has two affiliated secondary aluminum producers operating three facilities.
Trade talks continue
Toyota’s announcement did not tie the San Antonio expansion to the USMCA review. The company said it remains committed to operations in the US, Canada and Mexico and encouraged a quick resolution to the trade talks.
That said, Toyota moved Tacoma production deeper into Mexico as the original USMCA framework took shape. Six years later, with the US pressing for changes to the agreement, Toyota plans to return part of that production to Texas.
