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After the Senate approved a plan to sharply raise import tariffs on a wide range of goods from China, India, and other Asian economies, Mexico has made a big change to its trade policy. The decision, made on Wednesday local time, is meant to help domestic manufacturing and protect local businesses that have been complaining for a long time about low-cost imports making it harder for them to compete. The development happened even though governments that would be affected and Mexican business groups have said they are worried that higher tariffs could break supply chains and raise production costs.
The lower house of Congress had already approved the measure, which now puts Mexico in a position to raise tariffs by a lot next year. The plan says that starting in 2026, duties on some goods will go up to 50 percent, and duties on most other goods will go up to 35 percent. Mexico’s new rates only apply to countries that don’t have free trade agreements with Mexico. This includes big Asian exporters like China, India, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia.
The bill passed the Mexican Senate with 76 votes in favor, 5 votes against, and 35 votes not voting. The vote was important, but the debate before it showed that there were big differences between political leaders and business groups. A number of industry groups said that higher tariffs could make Mexico’s exports less competitive at a time when global supply chains are changing. China also spoke out against the move, saying it could hurt relations between the two countries and make things uncertain for businesses that rely on Mexico as a manufacturing and logistics hub.
Mexico Approves Higher Import Tariffs on Asian Economies
The Asian Economies most recent bill is a less strict version of an earlier proposal that didn’t get through the lower house this fall. The first draft got a lot of pushback because it was too broad and the duty increases were too big. The new version of the bill now covers about 1,400 tariff lines, with textiles, clothing, steel, auto parts, plastics, and shoes being the main ones. Analysts said that the duties on almost two-thirds of the items that were originally planned to be taxed have been lowered. This shows that lawmakers are trying to find a balance between protecting industry and keeping the economy stable.
People who watch the industry think that geopolitical factors played a role in the decision. Some analysts think that the tariff plan is a way for Mexico to show that it agrees with Washington’s worries about Chinese overcapacity and low-cost industrial exports coming into North American markets through Mexico. Mexico is getting ready for the next review of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement. The higher tariffs are also expected to help Mexico’s budget deficit get smaller. According to estimates, the measure could bring in an extra $3.76 billion for the government next year.
India is keeping a close eye on Asian Economies the situation because the decision comes at a time when trade between the two countries is at an all-time high. The Embassy of India in Mexico City says that trade between the two countries has grown steadily over the past few years and is now worth more than $10 billion. In 2022, the trade in goods was worth $11.4 billion. In 2023, it dropped slightly to $10.6 billion. The momentum came back in 2024, when trade between the two countries reached an all-time high of $11.7 billion.
India still has a big trade surplus with Mexico. In 2024, India sent 8.9 billion dollars worth of goods to Mexico and brought in 2.8 billion dollars worth of goods. This is India’s eighth year in a row with a surplus, which shows how important Mexico is becoming as a trading partner. Mexico is India’s second biggest trading partner in Latin America, after Brazil, and is also one of India’s top ten trading partners in the world. India, on the other hand, is still Mexico’s ninth largest trading partner in the world.
Indian exporters in fields like textiles, steel, auto parts, and plastics will now closely watch the rise in tariffs also see the effect of it on Asian Economies . Experts think that India may want to talk more with Mexican officials to make sure that trade between the two countries keeps growing, even though the new policy landscape is still developing.
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