The Government of Mexico has recently formalized a new tariff policy that incorporates into the General Import and Export Tax Law as a permanent provision the temporary tariff measures that were previously in place for non-FTA countries.
The policy imposes tariffs of 25%-50% on related imports, involving 1,463 tariff codes, mainly affecting products from China, India, South Korea and other countries that have not signed FTAs.
The tariff policy implements differentiated tariff rates for different categories of goods, covering a number of areas in which China has traditionally enjoyed export advantages.
Textiles & Clothing: 35%-45%
Footwear, small household appliances, furniture: 35%
Toys:30%
Automotive & Components: up to 50%
The automobile industry is particularly affected, non-FTA countries exported passenger cars, electric vehicles and their core components, including car audio systems, lamp components, etc. are required to pay high tariffs, the tax rate reached the peak level of the current round of adjustments.
Trade data reflects the close degree of economic and trade ties between China and Mexico. 2024, the total trade between the two sides exceeded 109.389 billion U.S. dollars, a record high, of which China's exports to Mexico amounted to 90.228 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 10.8%, Mexico has become China's second-largest trading partner in the Latin American region.
In terms of automobile exports, China's exports to Mexico are particularly strong.
In 2025, China exported 625,000 vehicles to Mexico, surpassing Russia for the first time to become the largest destination market, of which exports of new energy vehicles amounted to 199,000 vehicles, a year-on-year surge of 140.8%.
The share of Chinese auto brands in the Mexican market has also climbed rapidly from less than 11 TP3T in 2020 to about 191 TP3T.
The new policy involves almost all the major categories of Chinese exports to Mexico, which will have a direct impact on the operation of the relevant enterprises.
Mexican officials said that the launch of this policy is aimed at revitalizing the country's manufacturing industry, accelerating the pace of industrial upgrading, to solve the local manufacturing supply chain is not a high degree of localization, anti-risk capacity is weak and other structural problems.
Along with the implementation of the new tariff policy, the Mexican Customs supervision has also been strengthened, focusing on the review of information on the origin of goods, the accuracy of tax classification and the authenticity of the declared value, and cracking down on third-country re-export trade and underreporting and omission of irregularities, and small personal parcels, which had been relatively loosely regulated in the past, have also been included in the scope of the rigorous review.
As a result of these regulatory measures, Chinese exporters are faced with problems such as longer customs clearance cycles, increased frequency of inspections, and increased risk of goods being detained, which have led to a marked increase in operating costs and pressure on capital turnover.
For the long-term operation of the Mexican market for Chinese cross-border merchants, the cost of goods directly increased 25%-35%, the original thin margins and multi-selling business strategy is facing serious challenges.
As Mexican consumers have formed a low-cost perception of Chinese goods, tariff costs are difficult to fully transfer to the end market, corporate profitability suffered a substantial squeeze, smaller, limited risk-resistant enterprises are facing a test of survival.
Therefore, adjusting the pricing strategy from purely low price competition to the ”cost-effective + brand value” business model has become an important choice for Chinese export enterprises and cross-border merchants.
At the same time, accelerate the construction of overseas warehousing facilities in Mexico and the surrounding areas to achieve localized inventory management and distribution services, is also an effective way to reduce the risk of customs clearance.
Author:Kim
Xindashun International Logistics (Shenzhen) Co.
Tel:13556688899
Address: 21B03, Jazz Building, No. 4018, Guinbin Road, Heping Community, Nanhu Street, Luohu District, Shenzhen, China.