43.4% of orders were canceled
Sunny Worldwide LogisticsIt is a logistics company with more than 20 years of transportation experience, focusing on markets such as Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It is more of a cargo owner than a cargo owner~
Recently, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum signed and announced a tariff amendment decree in the Official Gazette of the Federation, imposing additional import tariffs on products under 185 tax codes.
The policy officially came into effect on April 24 the next day. Mexico imposed additional import tariffs on 185 products with tax codes. The tax rates are divided into six levels: 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 30%, and 35%.The highest tax rate is 35%.
This tariff adjustment is mainly targeted at countries that have not signed a free trade agreement with Mexico, and mainly affects Asian supply chain countries such as China, South Korea, India, and Vietnam. FTA partner countries such as the United States, Canada, and the European Union can still enjoy preferential tax rates as long as they meet the rules of origin.
The additional levy covers chemical products, cosmetics, paper and cardboard, textiles, steel, printed graphic products, aluminum products, auto parts, electrical materials, bicycles, musical instruments, furniture and other fields.
Cosmetics, printing and graphic products, bicycles, etc. are the industries that have been included in key protection for the first time:
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Cosmetic raw materials monoethanolamine and diethanolamine are subject to a tax rate of up to 35%
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Printed materials such as globes and original architectural design drawings are subject to a tax rate of up to 35%
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Unpowered bicycles and parts are subject to a unified tariff of 35%
The scope of taxation will be further expanded in the field of auto parts:
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The tax rate on chassis, large bus bodies, and other auto parts is as high as 35%
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New 5% tariff for wind power equipment
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35% tariff on trailers and parachutes
This is not an isolated incident. Previously, Mexico had passed comprehensive tariff reform at the end of 2025, raising tariffs on approximately 1,463 tax codes (mainly targeting non-FTA countries, such as China, India, South Korea, etc.), with tax rates ranging from 10% to 50%, covering industries such as textiles, steel, automobiles, plastics, home appliances, toys, and furniture. The new tariff rates came into effect on January 1, 2026, and will apply indefinitely.
Starting in January 2026, Mexico will officially impose additional tariffs on countries (including China) that have not signed a trade agreement. The average tax rate in the automobile and other industries has been directly raised from 16.1% to 28.9%. Among them, the tariff on light vehicles has soared to 50%.
The latest customs data has given the answer: In the first quarter of this year, the Port of Lazaro Cardenas and Mazatlan, which mainly handle Asian cars, received a total of 128,799 vehicles, a 19.13% decrease from the 159,284 vehicles in the same period last year, setting a record for the same period since 2022.
Among them, the Port of Lázaro Cardenas suffered the sharpest decline - it only received 88,157 vehicles in Q1, a sharp decrease of 25% year-on-year (118,051 vehicles last year). Ports such as Acapulco and Ensenada have registered zero registrations in the past three months, and not a single imported car from Asia has been registered.
The Mexican government said the tax increase was to protect local industries. However, data shows that Mexico still imported more than 306,000 Chinese brand cars (including General Motors, MG, BYD, etc.) in 2025. Economy Minister Ebrard once pointed out that Chinese cars are sold in Mexico at prices "below inventory costs", which constitutes unfair competition.
The results of a recent questionnaire survey by the Ministry of Commerce outline the survival dilemma of Chinese companies in the Mexican market: more than 80% of the companies surveyed clearly stated that Mexico’s tax increase measures have caused substantial obstacles to product access;
What is even more shocking is that 75% of companies expect to lose more than US million in sales to Mexico in the next year.
This is not a case of a certain company, but a systemic impact on the entire industry - whether it is a large manufacturer with an annual export volume of over 100 million, or a small and medium-sized trader deeply involved in market segments, they are all "failed" by tariff barriers.
A more dangerous signal than the decline in sales is hidden in the client's reaction. 43.4% of companies have received notices from customers canceling or postponing orders, and 85.7% of companies expect that subsequent orders will continue to be lost.
A person in charge of a company engaged in textile exports bluntly said that customers' hesitation is turning into "voting with their feet" - the market share that originally belonged to Chinese goods is being quickly filled by local Mexican companies or third-country suppliers.
Taking the footwear industry as an example, Chinese sports shoes have long occupied more than 30% of the Mexican market due to their cost-effectiveness advantages.
After the tax increase, the CIF price of a pair of Chinese-made sports shoes increased by nearly 40%. Mexican importers had to turn to suppliers in Turkey and Vietnam. Although products from these countries have no advantages in durability and design, "policy security" has become a priority.
Substitution caused by such "non-market factors" is accelerating the disintegration of the trust in the industrial chain that China and Mexico have accumulated over the years.
The domestic controversy over this tax increase policy has never stopped in Mexico. Supporters believe that the policy can protect local companies from foreign competition and restore lost jobs - in recent years, the output value of Mexico's textile industry has dropped by 4.8% annually, and 79,000 jobs will be lost in 2024, involving the livelihood of nearly 500,000 people.
But opponents point out that tax increases will trigger a series of chain reactions:
On the one hand, rising prices of raw materials and intermediate goods will push up inflation, and tax increases may further delay the central bank's interest rate cut, increasing the burden on people's lives.
On the other hand, foreign investment confidence in Mexico may be frustrated - the international capital previously attracted by Mexico as a "reliable production base" may be diverted to countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia due to policy uncertainty, leading to the "hollowing out" of the local industrial chain.
