President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that the tariffs promoted by her government to products from China and other countries in Asia do not violate any international norm and stressed that the measure is not directed against any particular nation.
During the morning of the town from the National Palace, Sheinbaum said that Mexico wishes to maintain a “very good relationship” with the government in Beijing and that it does not intend to open a confrontation front, amid global tensions by the tariff war that has promoted its main commercial partner, United States, specifically with China.
“They are not coercion measures and are not against China. That is very important. They are not measures against a country. We have a very good relationship with China and we want to continue having a very good relationship with them,” he said.
The president insisted that the decision seeks to strengthen national production and will be applied to all countries with which Mexico does not have free trade agreements.
The announcement occurs after the Chinese government warned on Thursday that “it will decide its rights and interests” before the Mexican plan to set tariffs up to 50% to various imported products from Asia, especially Chinese origin.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, remarked yesterday that Beijing “firmly opposes any coercion by third parties”, referring to Washington, and defended an “inclusive and beneficial” economic globalization.
Lee also: Mexico does not seek conflict over tariff measures in reference to China, says Sheinbaum
Sheinbaum explained that Mexico has already held conversations with Chinese authorities in recent months and that next week there will be new meetings to address the issue.
“We will always be open to talks (…) They are not discriminatory or coercion measures, or anything that has to do with that, it is for all countries that we have no commercial agreement and the objective is to strengthen national production,” he insisted.
The tariff plan is part of the 2026 economic package, which includes modifications in 1,463 tariff fractions that represent 8.6% of the total imports of the country, with an estimated value of 52 billion dollars.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the encumbrances will range between 10% and 50% and will apply to products from China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and Turkey, among other countries without commercial treaty with Mexico.
The Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, has justified the measure as a mechanism to “protect the national industry against ‘dumping’”.
With EFE information
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