On Dec. 19, Mexico announced an increase in tariffs on textiles and apparel imports up to 35%, effective from Dec. 20, 2024, until April 23, 2026, and amends the IMMEX program. The official publication states that the primary objective is to tackle the unfair competition affecting Mexico’s textile and apparel industry. This sector has recently suffered due to the influx of low-priced apparel imports from countries with which Mexico has not signed a Free Trade Agreement.
The measure expands the 35% import duty rates to 138 tariff lines for garment products and 15% import duty rates to 17 tariff lines for textile products. Such increments do not affect products originating from countries with which Mexico has signed a Free Trade Agreement, such as the USMCA. The measure follows Mexico’s tariff increase on multiple imported products adopted on April 22, 2024, which covered 544 tariff lines with duties ranging between 5% and 50% (see alert here).
This measure also updates the list of products that cannot be imported into Mexico under the IMMEX program (a government program that defers duties to authorized companies engaged in manufacturing or maquila operations in Mexico). Finally, this announcement updates the list of products that must comply with specific requirements to be imported under the IMMEX program.
