By Ana Isabel Martinez and Adriana Barrera
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s government will propose a bill to impose import tariffs on some sectors, including automotives and manufacturing, in a bid to address trade imbalances, a top official said on Tuesday.
The move would also bring an additional 70 billion pesos ($3.76 billion) to state coffers, the official said.
Deputy Minister for Revenues Carlos Lerma told a press conference, following publication of the country’s draft 2026 budget, that the Economy Ministry would submit a bill to Congress focused on trade imbalances in some sectors.
Lerma did not give details on how tariffs might be adjusted.
“It is important to highlight that all this will come within the framework of the international treaties,” Lerma added.
Lerma did not name any countries, but Finance Minister Edgar Amador said the new tariffs would apply to countries with which Mexico does not currently have trade agreements. President Claudia Sheinbaum has previously said tariffs on China were being considered.
Mexico’s top trade partner is the United States, with which it shares a free trade agreement, along with Canada. The bulk of its trade with the U.S. falls under this agreement, which has been largely spared from the tariffs imposed by its northern neighbor.
The Trump administration has pressured countries in Latin America to limit their ties with economic rival China, which competes with the United States for influence in the region.
This includes measures to prevent Chinese goods from avoiding steep U.S. tariffs by passing through another country such as Mexico as a back door to the U.S. market.
Mexico already imposes various tariffs on goods from China, including on cars, e-commerce, clothing, shoes, and some manufactured goods.
Following reports last month that Mexico could raise tariffs on Chinese goods, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China opposed restrictions made “under the coercion of others” and that it believed countries would “remain independent.”
Analysts have warned new tariffs could fuel Mexican inflation, which sped up in August, although it remained within the central bank’s target range.
“If tariffs on imports from China to Mexico materialize, there will be greater inflationary pressures, both for the consumer and the producer,” Banco BASE economic analysis director Gabriela Siller said in a post on X in late August.
“A large amount of industrial inputs come from China,” she added.
($1 = 18.6350 Mexican pesos)
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Adriana Barrera and Cassandra Garrison; Additional reporting by Sarah Morland and Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Rod Nickel)
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