Business & Economics
Mexico Enacts Up-to-50% Tariffs on 1,463 Non-FTA Imports; China and India Protest
On 11 December 2025 Mexico’s Congress approved a law raising duties to as high as 50 % on 1,463 product lines from countries without a free-trade pact, to take effect 1 January 2026.
Focusing Facts
- The bill passed both chambers on 11 Dec 2025 and targets goods from China, India, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia, covering automobiles, steel, textiles and more.
- China’s Ministry of Commerce condemned the move on 12 Dec 2025, pledging to ‘closely monitor’ the impact, while India opened talks and warned of ‘appropriate measures’ on 13 Dec 2025.
- India’s exports to Mexico totalled US $5.75 billion in FY 2024-25, sectors now facing tariffs of 5–50 %.
Context
Protectionist tariff waves are hardly new: the U.S. Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 raised average duties to 59%, deepening the Great Depression, and the 2018–19 Trump Section 301 tariffs on China reverberated through global supply chains. Mexico’s sudden 2025 hike sits at the intersection of two longer arcs—reshoring/friend-shoring within the USMCA bloc and the fracturing of the post-1995 WTO consensus on Most-Favoured-Nation treatment. By aligning its external tariff wall with Washington’s anti-China stance before the 2026 USMCA review, Mexico signals that geopolitical calculations now trump the liberalisation orthodoxy that guided NAFTA’s 1994 launch. Whether this moment matters a century from now will hinge on whether it sparks a broader Latin-Asian tariff spiral or proves a footnote like Brazil’s short-lived 2012 import surcharges; but if replicated, such measures could entrench a 1930-style trading-bloc world, redirecting investment and supply chains for decades.
Perspectives
Chinese government and aligned media
Chinese government and aligned media — They denounce Mexico's new tariffs as unilateral, protectionist moves that will "substantially undermine" normal trade and call on Mexico to reverse them. By portraying Mexico as the sole rule-breaker they sidestep scrutiny of China’s own tariff practices and aim to protect Chinese exporters and Beijing’s image as a champion of free trade.
Indian national business press
Indian national business press — They depict the hike as a grave threat to Indian exporters and spotlight New Delhi’s talks and an eventual India–Mexico FTA as the solution to blunt duties of up to 50 %. Coverage focuses on India’s losses, attributes the decision to U.S. pressure on Mexico, and may overstate urgency to galvanize government action and audience concern.
South Korean media citing the Trade Ministry
South Korean media citing the Trade Ministry — They argue the impact on Korean exporters will be modest because key items were exempted or had tariffs trimmed after Seoul’s lobbying. The reassuring message bolsters domestic confidence in officials’ diplomacy and could underplay longer-term supply-chain vulnerabilities for Korean firms.