MEXICO CITY: Mexico, under pressure not to serve as a back door for Chinese goods entering the United States, has proposed a 50 per cent duty on car imports from the Asian giant – up from 15 to 20 per cent.
The initiative, contained in a bill submitted by the government to Congress, seeks to assuage US President Donald Trump – who has repeatedly urged trading partners to increase duties on China – while also bolstering Mexico’s industrial sector.
The White House has said Chinese producers are abusing a free-trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada to send goods northward over the Mexican border tariff-free.
Beijing criticised the proposed tariffs on Thursday (Sep 11), with a foreign ministry spokesman saying, without mentioning the United States, that China “firmly opposes any coercion”.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has also complained of the impact of Chinese imports on domestic manufacturing, and the bill says the increased tariff will seek to protect 19 industrial sectors considered “strategic”.
It also proposes raising tariffs on other countries with which Mexico has no trade agreement.
Mexico replaced China in 2023 as the United States’ largest trading partner, with the Latin American country’s northern neighbour buying more than 80 per cent of its exports.
It sends nearly three million automobiles to the United States a year, including cars and trucks assembled by US auto companies in Mexico.
China said it opposed any restriction that “undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests”.
“China attaches great importance to the development of China-Mexico relations, and hopes that Mexico will move forward in the same direction with China,” Lin told a regular news briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
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