The tariffs imposed by Mexico to the import of various products from China and other countries with which it does not have a trade agreement came into force this Thursday.
The customs duties were approved by the Congress of the Union last December, at the end of a year 2025 marked by the trade war started by the US president. donald trumpwho has threatened Mexico with tariffs since his return to the White House.
Analysts have seen the measure imposed by the Mexican Government as an alignment with the United States, its largest trading partner, towards review of the T-MEC free trade agreementwhich includes both countries and Canada.
The tariffs are directed at various products of the footwear, automotive, textile sectors and toys, among others, industries with a significant presence of Chinese imports.
In 2024, Mexico imported 2,163.1 million dollars in footwear, of which 41.5% originated in China. The tariffs for this commercial chapter were set between 25% and 35% depending on the type of merchandise.
In the case of toys, a sector in which imports from Mexico amounted to 3,281.1 million dollars in 2024, the tax in force since 2026 is 30%.
61.5% of the imports in the toy industry They came from China in 2024, according to the Statistics Institute (Inegi).
The Ministry of Economy assured that the main objective of this measure is “to safeguard close to 350,000 jobs” and “contribute to the reindustrialization” of the country.
After the approval of the tariffs in Congress, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce He said that Beijing hopes that “Mexico will correct this erroneous practice of unilateralism and protectionism.”
In a statement released on December 30, the Mexican Ministry of Economy stated that the measure “is not directed at any country in particular.”
