A new giant market opens – This is how it changes the rules of the game

The EU and Mexico signed a new package of trade and cooperation agreements on Friday. It dismantles customs walls on a large scale and opens up the market for companies. The agreement is believed to significantly increase the annual trade between the EU and Mexico of around 100 billion euros.

The new contract package emphasizes services, investments and regulatory coordination more than before.

The whole consists of two agreements: the comprehensive Modernized Global Agreement (MGA) and the Interim Trade Agreement (ITA). The latter of these can be implemented quickly and is focused on the concrete liberalization of trade.

The central economic content of the agreement is the removal of customs duties from practically all trade between the EU and Mexico and the dismantling of technical trade barriers. At the same time, the access of European companies to public procurement in Mexico will be made easier and trade in services will be liberalized, for example in financial, digital and professional services.

EU exports to Mexico are already significant: goods exports were 53 billion euros in 2025 and service exports 20.3 billion euros in 2024. Imports from Mexico were correspondingly 34 billion euros in goods and 9.4 billion euros in services. Trade in goods has grown by 337 percent in the last 25 years.

In particular, the food and industrial sectors are expected to benefit from the new agreement. The EU exports food and beverages to Mexico worth around 2.5 billion euros per year, and the elimination of tariffs will improve the competitiveness of European products. The agreement also includes extensive protection for European geographical indications, which strengthens the position of European branded products.

Regulation is cut

In industry, regulatory harmonization eases companies’ costs and speeds up market access. The beneficiaries are especially machine and equipment manufacturers, the automotive industry, and the pharmaceutical and transport equipment industry.

The agreement also supports securing important supply chains, as Mexico is a key supplier of raw materials to the EU. For example, fluorspar covers 22 percent of EU imports. In addition, the country supplies, among other things, zinc, copper and molybdenum.

The business impacts are extensive: more than 45,000 EU companies already export to Mexico, and 83 percent of them are SMEs. The agreement is expected to significantly improve the market position of these companies.

The investment relationships are also deep. EU investments in Mexico were 207 billion euros and Mexico’s investments in the EU were 25 billion euros in 2024.

The New Mexico Agreement is part of the EU’s strategy to diversify its trade relations and strengthen global partnerships. For Mexico, the agreement offers an opportunity to reduce dependence on the United States and expand its economic relations to other economic areas.