Mexico will impose a 35% tariff on 138 types of clothing products, and platforms such as Temu will be affected

It is learned that the Mexican government recently announced that it will implement a new tariff policy on imported textiles from Asia before 2026, mainly targeting Asian countries such as China. This measure will impose a 35% import tax on 138 types of clothing products and a 15% import tax on 17 types of textiles.

The move is aimed primarily at curbing textile imports from low-priced markets, and the Mexican government stressed that the measures target specific categories of products rather than a single country.

The tax is intended to protect local industries and jobs as Mexico's textile industry has seen its gross domestic product fall by 4.8% in recent years and lost 79,000 jobs.

It is understood that this new tax policy does not apply to countries that have signed free trade agreements with Mexico, especially Mexico's largest trading partner, the United States. Therefore, textile imports to the United States will not be affected by this policy.

Data shows that in 2023, Mexico's main sources of textile imports include China (US$4.6 billion), the United States (US$3.2 billion), Vietnam (US$665 million), Bangladesh (US$595 million) and India (US$472 million). In particular, low-priced textiles imported through e-commerce platforms such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress have a significant incremental impact on the Latin American market, which is one of the reasons why the Mexican government introduced this new policy.

In addition, the situation in Mexico and other Latin American countries is also changing. For example, Chile and Brazil recently abolished the tax-free policy for low-cost goods purchased on such e-commerce platforms, setting a tax-free cap of $41 and $50 respectively.

The introduction of this policy by Mexico comes at a time when the global trade environment is changing, especially in the Americas. During President Trump's term, the United States promised to impose a 25% tariff on all Mexican imports to encourage Mexico to strengthen its crackdown on illegal immigration and smuggling. This new tax policy also reflects, to a certain extent, the Mexican government's game between globalization and the protection of local industries.

Author✎ Summer/
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