Mexico announces that auto exports will have a discount on US tariffs

Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Tuesday that cars manufactured in Mexico for export to the United States will be able to pay a tariff of 15% instead of 25%. This would be a new provision by Washington on vehicle imports.

Since April 3, vehicles imported into the United States have been taxed at 25%, except for those parts from Canada and Mexico covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement (T-MEC).

Ebrard explained that the tariff reduction obeys Proclamation 10908, a document that regulates the application of customs taxes to the automotive sector decreed by President Donald Trump as part of his global trade offensive.

"From now on and from the time this new rule comes into force, vehicles made in Mexico, which go to the United States, instead of paying 25%, will pay around 15%, which is a very big advantage in relation to other countries that export to the United States," the official told journalists after participating in a public event.

Ebrard did not specify the date as of which this discount would come into effect for vehicles manufactured in Mexico for export purposes, but said that the benefit could "have a retroactive treatment." "It means that maybe the benefit will be retroactive," he said.

"It means that maybe in some cases they will return tariffs that they had paid, because now there is a differential in favor of the companies," he added.