Mexico’s Minister of Economy Marcelo Ebrard announced the government will hold multiple rounds of talks with China this year, including a high-level group meeting and sideline discussions at the APEC forum, to address tariffs and trade friction after Beijing declared Mexico’s import measures constitute barriers to commerce and investment and reserved the right to adopt countermeasures. The dialogue comes as Mexico’s tariff increases of up to 35%, affecting more than US$30 billion in Chinese exports, have strained bilateral trade relations across the automotive, steel, and electronics sectors.

Mexico’s Minister of Economy Marcelo Ebrard said the government plans to hold multiple rounds of talks with China throughout the year, including a high-level group meeting, to address tariffs and other trade friction following Beijing’s announcement that Mexico’s import measures constitute barriers to commerce and investment. Ebrard added that Mexico will participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which China is hosting, creating additional opportunities for dialogue. No dates have been set, but Ebrard said meetings will take place in both countries.

The minister said the first item on the agenda will be comparing the conditions Mexican exporters face when accessing the Chinese market against those Chinese exporters face in Mexico. “Compare what the processes and complexity are like when they export to us, vis-à-vis when we export there,” he said.

Beijing’s Response to Mexico’s Tariff Measures

In December, Mexico announced tariff increases of up to 35% on imports from China and other countries without free trade agreements, a move analysts characterized as an effort to ease tensions with the United States. 

In March, China’s Ministry of Commerce responded, saying the measures constitute barriers to commerce and investment and that Beijing has the right to adopt countermeasures. The ministry said the tariffs affect more than US$30 billion in Chinese exports and could result in estimated losses of approximately US$9.4 billion for its mechanical and electrical sectors, with about US$9 billion falling on the automotive and auto parts industries alone. 

Mexico was China’s top vehicle export destination in 2025, the ministry said. Beijing also warned that non-tariff measures, including complex customs inspection requirements, could further restrict Chinese company operations in the country.

Ebrard has defended the measures as compatible with WTO rules. “We put tariffs in place so that the playing field, which is very uneven, starts to level out. It is a right that Mexico has. We have nothing against China,” he said, citing Chinese steel arriving at around US$150/t as an example of pricing that reflects subsidies or non-equivalent burdens.

The tariff dispute is unfolding alongside broader trade enforcement actions. The Ministry of Economy is moving toward imposing sanctions on steel companies from China and Vietnam over alleged dumping of hot-rolled steel imports, following a complaint filed in November 2024 by Ternium covering import operations between September 2023 and August 2024. Proposed duties vary by exporter: Shanghai Meishan Iron faces US$0.20/kg, Wuhan Iron US$0.21/kg, and other Chinese exporters between US$0.22/kg and US$0.23/kg. 

At the 78th General Assembly of CANACERO, Ebrard announced the permanent extension of tariffs ranging from 10% to 35% on steel imports from Asian countries, now covering 220 steel products from countries without free trade agreements with Mexico indefinitely. The government also plans to phase out temporary import permits for steel products under the IMMEX program and will strengthen oversight of special import regimes, including IMMEX, PROCET, and the Regla Octava, to prevent their use as transshipment channels for Asian goods entering the United States through Mexico.

Mexico-China Trade: A Widening Deficit and Modest Investment Flows

The trade relationship between Mexico and China is defined by a stark imbalance. In 2025, China accounted for 19.8% of Mexico’s total imports, equivalent to US$120.15 billion, while Mexico’s exports to China represented just 1.5% of its total, or US$9.03 billion, producing a net trade deficit of US$111.11 billion in China’s favor.

On a monthly basis, the gap shows no signs of narrowing. In November 2025, Mexico’s exports to China reached US$958 million while imports from China totaled US$10.7 billion, resulting in a monthly trade deficit of US$9.74 billion. Copper ores and concentrates remained Mexico’s top export to China that month at US$221 million, while smartphones and wireless network devices led imports at US$920 million, a pattern consistent with the full-year 2024 figures, when telephone imports from China totaled US$9.44 billion.

The asymmetry extends to FDI. In 2024, Chinese FDI into Mexico totaled US$477 million, distributed across reinvestment of profits (US$250 million), intercompany accounts (US$213 million) and new investments (US$14 million). Mexico City was the primary destination, receiving US$391 million, followed by Coahuila with US$55.9 million and Guanajuato with US$12.4 million. Since 1999, cumulative Chinese FDI into Mexico has reached US$2.72 billion.

Remittance flows between the two countries remain negligible by comparison. In 3Q25, Mexico received US$156,000 in remittances from China, while China received US$1.33 million from Mexico.

Experts consider the overall trade structure highly asymmetric, a dynamic that recent tariff measures on both sides are unlikely to resolve in the near term.