(AFP) – Over 80 percent of Mexican exports to the United States will be exempt from a new round of tariffs announced by Washington, Mexican Economic Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday. The announcement came as the United States and Mexico concluded their third round of negotiations reviewing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a regional free trade accord signed in 2020 that’s due for renegotiation.
Both trade parties agreed on “the urgent need to strengthen manufacturing in North America” and to block the “improper use” of the agreement by parties that are not included in it, according to a joint readout issued by Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy. A fourth round of USMCA talks will take place in the first half of September, Ebrard said in a statement.
The tariffs, which will hit some 60 countries, take effect Friday and come in response to investigations by the government of President Donald Trump regarding the use of forced labor in products exported to the United States, the Office of US Trade Representatives said in a statement. But Ebrard said the majority of Mexican exports won’t be affected because they comply with the requirements of the USMCA.
Ebrard said in a social media video that over 80 percent of Mexican exports “follow the rules of the free trade agreement that we have, USMCA. Which is to say, that’s not changing.” Mexico is the largest commercial partner of the United States, with exports topping $558 billion between June 2025 and May of this year, according to official data.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met at the presidential palace Thursday, as negotiators met to hash out updates to the treaty — which Washington has called deficient. The duty, set at 10 percent for Mexico but reaching up to 12.5 percent for other countries, replaces a temporary levy imposed by Trump that expires on Friday.
Goods that are not covered under the USMCA will be subject to the new tariff, Ebrard said. “We don’t see a change in the tariff Mexico is paying today….it doesn’t change the position we’ve had up to now,” Ebrard added.
© 2024 AFP
