With tariffs, Mexico opts for greater national production

The application of tariffs to products imported from countries with which the nation does not have a trade agreement will increase local content by 15 percent, that is, Mexico will produce more, said the Ministry of Economy (SE).

Alejandro Malagón Barragán, president of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin), pointed out that sectors such as textiles, footwear and toys – benefited from this measure that seeks to protect the country’s internal market – are already planning to reopen plants that were lost, which also implies recovering jobs.

After the government of Mexico published the decree that reforms 1,463 tariff sections of the Tariff of the Law of General Import and Export Taxes as of the first minute of 2026, the agency indicated that this modification seeks to safeguard nearly 350,000 jobs in sensitive sectors.

However, the measure also seeks to contribute to sovereign, sustainable and inclusive reindustrialization in strategic sectors of the Mexican economy that will allow the consolidation of a new economic development model that strengthens the nation’s internal competitiveness.

The decree, which raises tariffs between 5 and 50 percent to 1,463 tariff fractions on various goods in the automotive, textile, clothing, plastic, steel, household appliances, aluminum, toy, furniture, footwear, leather goods, paper and cardboard, motorcycle, trailer and glass industries, is also linked to Plan Mexico, the SE indicated.

“The aim is to increase 15 percent of national content in the production chains, which implies that more and more is produced in Mexico, replacing inputs that are imported to develop them in the country,” the agency said in a statement.

He noted that the Made in Mexico program will also be reinforced, national investment will increase to 28 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), 1.5 million jobs will be generated and the aim is to ensure that national consumption has increasingly more supplies from large, small and medium-sized companies installed in Mexico.

Malagón Barragán commented that with these tariffs, companies in the benefited sectors are beginning to “see how they are going to open,” because there is trust.

He recalled that in the textile industry, companies imported clothing from Asia, but they introduced them under temporary schemes, which they did not comply with and ended up in the domestic market without paying tariffs or VAT.

This meant that domestic products would have to compete with goods that were at least 35 percent cheaper. He considered that tariffs will not work without a solid customs force, so it must now be reinforced to ensure the success of the value chain.

“We are going to clean the house and of course we are still going to find Chinese toys, Chinese t-shirts, we are going to change, but we cannot do it overnight,” said the industrial leader.

“To defend the national market, what is needed is to have fewer imports, to have more national production, more made in Mexico,” he indicated.