Toyota México promotes Lizette Gracida to vice-president of institutional relations and foreign trade ahead of 2026 USMCA review
Toyota México has promoted long-serving government affairs and trade compliance executive Lizette Gracida to vice-president of institutional relations and foreign trade, effective April 2026, as North American automakers prepare for tighter trade and import regulations ahead of the upcoming USMCA review.
Toyota México promotes trade and policy veteran Lizette Gracida to its executive team as the industry navigates evolving USMCA rules, customs reforms and North American supply chain shifts
Source: LinkedIn profile image
Toyota México has appointed Lizette Gracida as
vice-president of institutional relations and foreign trade, effective April
2026. The promotion moves Gracida, who has led the carmaker's institutional and
trade compliance agenda for 12 years, into Toyota México's executive ranks.
Her appointment comes during a period of significant change
for North American automotive supply chains. Tariff volatility, recent reforms
to Mexico's customs laws and the forthcoming review of the US-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA) are reshaping how carmakers plan production and supply chains
across the region – issues Gracida has discussed at Automotive Logistics’
events in Mexico.
Gracida joined Toyota in June 2014 and most recently served
as senior director of institutional affairs and foreign trade. Under Toyota's
Kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement, her new remit will focus on
operational continuity and consolidating the company's long-term vision for
Mexico.
Prior to Toyota, she was senior manager of government
relations and international treaties at Nissan Motor Corporation from 2011 to
2014, with earlier roles in corporate affairs at GSK and as an adviser to the director
general for the United Nations at Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Gracida holds a BA from the National Autonomous University
of Mexico (UNAM) and a specialisation in international trade from the
Ibero-American University. She represents Toyota at the Mexican Association of
the Automotive Industry (AMIA) and was a member of the "side room"
during USMCA negotiations.
A voice on cross-border trade and logistics
Gracida has contributed to industry debate on the
cross-border policy issues most directly affecting automotive supply chains for
several years at Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Mexico conferences.
At ALSC
Mexico 2025, Gracida argued the industry's most pressing need ahead of the
USMCA review was "certainty" – clear rules and no sudden changes. She
warned that tighter customs regulations in Mexico, and the rollback of
flexibilities the sector had relied on for two decades, posed risks for an
industry that exports around 87% of the vehicles it builds in the country.
A year earlier at ALSC
Mexico 2024, Gracida described nearshoring as "a historic opportunity
for Mexico" but warned that limited logistics infrastructure, clean energy
availability and complex trade facilitation were blocking tier-two and
tier-three supplier investment. She called for a national master plan to close
competitiveness gaps.
