Mexico reviews China tariffs

President Claudia Sheinbaum blamed Chinese imports for the collapse of Mexico’s textile and shoe industries.

By Lily Zhou, The Epoch Times – March 7, 2025

Mexico has to review its China tariffs to protect its domestic industry, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on March 6.

The announcement follows U.S. President Trump’s decision to delay tariffs on imports that fall under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) for a month. In Mexico’s case, the delay covers half of its exports to the United States.

At a press conference on Thursday, Sheinbaum said her government ultimately prioritizes trade with countries that have a treaty with Mexico.

“Remember, we do not have a trade agreement with China, and we are importing a lot of products from China,” she said.

Sheinbaum blamed Chinese imports for the collapse of Mexico’s textile and shoe industries and said the collapse has contributed to violence in the Guanajuato state in central Mexico.

To strengthen Mexico’s industry, “we have to review the tariffs we have with China,” the president told reporters.

Sheinbaum made remarks amid pressure from the Trump administration to stop and prevent Chinese manufacturers from using Mexico as a backdoor to the United States.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Feb. 28 that the Mexican government had proposed matching the United States on its China tariffs and that Canada could help build a “Fortress North America” from the flood of Chinese imports by doing the same. The Mexican government has not confirmed the proposal.

Trump has imposed an additional 20 percent tariff on imports from China and a 25 percent tariff on some imports from Canada and Mexico, citing the countries’ failure to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs such as fentanyl to the United States.

Following extensive talks with the Canadian and Mexican governments, Trump delayed the implementation of new tariffs on USMCA-compliant goods until April 2. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the U.S. neighbors had done a good job of offering the United States help in curbing fentanyl trafficking.

Meanwhile, Beijing responded by saying it’s ready to fight “a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war” that the United States wants, on top of counter-tariffs and other retaliatory measures. The Chinese regime has repeatedly rejected the U.S. allegation that it has fueled the fentanyl crisis in the United States.

On March 5, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) urged the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to step up efforts to curb China’s tariff evasion through unlawful transshipment via third countries, including by launching a USTR investigation on violations by China-based actors.

In a letter to the heads of the departments, committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said the Chinese regime’s “systematic abuse of U.S. trade laws and protective mechanisms through transshipment, forced labor, and other illicit trade practices represents a clear and urgent threat to American industry and workers.”

Also, on Wednesday, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), a committee member, reintroduced a bill aimed at creating a task force within the Department of Justice to tackle trade-related crime investigations and cases.

PHOTO: Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks at a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on March 4, 2025. | Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images