De Minimis, Informal Clearance USMCA Changes Not Being Honored in Mexico, Trade Groups Say

Trade groups are asking top Mexican politicians to change Mexico's tariff treatment of packages that are under the $117 de minimis level and informal entries. The groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Express Association of America and its Mexican counterpart, and the National Retail Federation, wrote the economy secretary, finance secretary and the head of Mexico's equivalent of the IRS on July 7, because of June 30 amendments to Mexico's Reglas Generales de Comercio Exterior regulations.

“Rather than implement [trade facilitation provisions in USMCA] to create a new-duty free threshold up to US$117 and a meaningful informal clearance threshold up to US$2,500, Mexico instead raised its 'Tasa Global' import duties one percentage point on all USMCA low-value shipments between US$50-US$117 and by three percentage points for USMCA partners above US$117 and up to US$1000. These amendments violate the letter and the spirit of USMCA by raising import duties on U.S. and Canadian shipments and further complicate customs clearance operations. These changes were made with little to no consultation with USMCA partners and left the private sector scrambling to comply with the new requirements overnight to the detriment of consumers, including many micro, small and medium enterprises across North America,” they wrote. Tasa is “tax” in Spanish.

“We respectfully request the Mexican government immediately amend the June 30 publication of the Reglas Generales de Comercio Exterior para 2020, and recommit to the full implementation of USMCA’s Chapter 7, including the removal of the 'Tasa Global' duty and the increase of the informal clearance threshold to US$2,500.”

The Mexican Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment by press time.