MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Congress accepted Wednesday a lot of the tariff will increase proposed by the federal government on greater than 1,400 merchandise imported from China and different international locations that do not need free commerce agreements with Mexico.
The Senate handed the measure Wednesday night, following the decrease chamber, which had accepted the will increase earlier than daybreak. The governing Morena occasion of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who stated the tariffs had been essential to spur home manufacturing, controls each chambers. The Senate handed the laws with 76 votes in favor, 5 towards and 35 abstentions.
Analysts say the true motivation is ongoing negotiations with Washington, Mexico’s most essential buying and selling companion. Sheinbaum has been looking for reduction from remaining tariffs imposed on Mexican imports by the Trump administration, which has accused China of utilizing Mexico as a backdoor into the U.S. market.
Tariff will increase of as a lot as 50% will have an effect on textiles, footwear, home equipment, vehicles and auto elements amongst different issues starting in January.
China would be the most affected as Mexico imported $130 billion price of merchandise from the nation in 2024, second solely to the what Mexico purchased from the US. The Chinese language authorities was essential of the proposed tariff will increase once they had been introduced in September.
Avocados imported from Mexico are displayed at a market in San Francisco, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photograph/Jeff Chiu)
“The real reason has to do with the United States, it has to do with the review of the USMCA (free trade agreement) that is coming up, with the negotiations to obtain reductions, exemptions from the tariffs that Mexico is facing at this moment to access the U.S. market,” stated Oscar Ocampo, director of financial improvement on the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness. Mexico nonetheless faces U.S. tariffs on the automotive sector, metal and aluminum.
However Ocampo stated Mexico was bending to an unpredictable U.S. President Donald Trump and altering its business coverage “in the wrong direction.” He stated the federal government was creating issues for quite a lot of sectors, together with auto elements, plastics, chemical compounds and textiles, as a result of the tariffs will create disruptions in provide chains and will push inflation up at a time when the financial system is slowing.
