Mexico is advancing simultaneous trade agreement modernizations with the European Union, set for signing in May 2025, and the European Free Trade Association, which includes Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, as part of a government-led strategy to diversify exports beyond North America amid US tariff uncertainty. The EU deal expands market access in agriculture, fisheries, digital trade, and investment, while the EFTA modernization remains in early analysis stages. Stakeholders in Mexico’s agricultural, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and mining sectors, as well as Swiss and European investors with US$10.73 billion in cumulative FDI since 1999, stand to be directly affected by both agreements.

Mexico is advancing trade agreement modernization on two fronts simultaneously, moving to update its existing pact with the European Free Trade Association while preparing to sign a revamped deal with the European Union in May, as the government accelerates efforts to diversify exports beyond North America.

Mexico’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez met with Swiss Economy Secretary Helene Budliger at the World Trade Organization ministerial conference in Cameroon, where both sides agreed to begin analyzing the modernization of their existing free trade agreement at the earliest opportunity. The accord falls under the EFTA framework, which also includes Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. “We committed to beginning the analysis as soon as possible,” Gutiérrez said in a post on X.

On the sidelines of the same ministerial meeting, Gutiérrez also met with Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, to discuss the upcoming signing of the modernized Mexico-EU Trade Agreement. “Ready for the signing of the Agreement by our President Claudia Sheinbaum and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the coming month of May,” Gutiérrez said.

In February, Minister of Economy Marcelo Ebrard confirmed the modernized Mexico-EU agreement is on track for signing at the end of May, calling it one of several opportunities Mexico is developing to broaden its export base. Negotiations concluded in January 2025, three days before Donald Trump began his second term. “We finished the Modernization Agreement, I think it gets signed at the end of May. Pay attention to the opportunities we are going to have there,” Ebrard said at the first ordinary session of the Investment Promotion Committee.

The updated agreement expands market access in the agricultural and fisheries sectors, harmonizes investment provisions, creates a trade facilitation chapter and establishes a digital trade chapter. It also prohibits export and import monopolies on raw materials. Mexico will gain improved access for products including orange juice, tuna, asparagus, honey, and egg white albumin, as well as equitable access for meat products including poultry. In exchange, Mexico will eliminate tariffs of up to 100% on key EU exports such as cheese, poultry, pork, pasta, apples, jams, chocolate, and wine, and will extend geographic indication protections to 568 European products.

The two European initiatives are part of a broader trade diversification strategy the Mexican government is pursuing in response to shifts in US trade policy. Mexico currently holds 23 free trade agreements, placing it seventh among economies with the most FTAs globally, according to the WTO, behind the European Union (46), the United Kingdom (38), Chile (31), EFTA (29), Singapore (27) and Turkey (24). Beyond Europe, Ebrard said the government has received invitations from India, China, Japan and South Korea for various commercial initiatives.

Mexico-Switzerland Trade and Investment Flows

The bilateral trade relationship with Switzerland provides context for the EFTA modernization push. In 2025, Mexico’s exports to Switzerland totaled US$1.59 billion, representing 0.26% of Mexico’s total exports, while imports from Switzerland reached US$2.27 billion, or 0.37% of total imports, producing a net trade deficit of US$679 million in Switzerland’s favor.

In 2024, Mexico’s top export to Switzerland was crude or semi-manufactured gold at US$744 million, with Sonora (US$573 million), Mexico City (US$287 million) and Baja California (US$83.1 million) as the leading states of origin. 

On the import side, pharmaceutical preparations for therapeutic or prophylactic use led at US$317 million, with Mexico City receiving the largest share of Swiss imports at US$1.28 billion, followed by State of Mexico at US$227 million and Chihuahua at US$208 million. In November 2025, the monthly trade balance shifted in Mexico’s favor, with exports of US$258 million outpacing imports of US$207 million for a surplus of US$51.6 million.

Swiss foreign direct investment in Mexico reached US$553 million in 2024, with Mexico City accounting for US$551 million of that total, followed by State of Mexico at US$57.2 million and Guanajuato at US$39.1 million. Since January 1999 through December 2024, cumulative Swiss FDI into Mexico has totaled US$10.73 billion, distributed across reinvestment of profits (US$4.93 billion), new investments (US$3.78 billion) and intercompany accounts (US$2.02 billion).

North America Remains the Core

Despite the European and Asia-Pacific outreach, Ebrard said North America will remain the foundation of Mexico’s trade strategy, given the scale of regional integration and commercial flows between Mexico, the United States and Canada. 

Mexico held its position as the top trading partner for US goods in 2025, retaining first place as the leading destination for US exports, displacing Canada for the first time since NAFTA took effect in 1994, while remaining the top supplier of goods to the United States for a third consecutive year. Ebrard noted that 12% of US GDP is linked to trade flows with Mexico. On the USMCA review, he urged calm: “Our forecast is that we are going to come out ahead because of the size of the business between Mexico and the United States.”