The Mexican government agrees to exempt import tariffs on 21 products of the basic basket and 6 strategic inputs to combat inflation.
In order to combat the rise in prices, the federal government announced on Monday that it decided to temporarily exempt products classified in 66 tariff lines that are part of the basic basket from the payment of import duties.
This measure is part of the plan against inflation recently announced by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and whose effects are expected to be felt in the following weeks. Currently, inflation stands at 7.68% at an annual rate, almost double the central bank’s target.
“With the purpose of reducing inflation and the fall in consumption of Mexican households, through various measures, among which is exempting 21 products from the basic basket and 6 strategic inputs from import duties,” he explained. the government in the Official Gazette of the Federation. (DOF)
The benefited products are corn oil, rice, tuna, pork, chicken, beef, onion, jalapeño pepper, beans, corn flour, wheat flour, egg, toilet soap, tomato, milk, lemon, white corn, apple, orange, box bread, potato, pasta for soup, sardine, sorghum, wheat, and carrot.
In addition to live animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine, or caprine species, roosters, and chickens.
The Mexican government’s plan will benefit food-producing and exporting countries that do not necessarily have a trade agreement with the country.
Among the nations with which there is no trade agreement and which are important producers of food and inputs are Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, and China, just to name a few examples.
Mexico has Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with almost 50 countries, and whose products enter free of tariffs.
Not charging tariffs on imports will be beneficial both for the final consumer and for those who use these products as inputs to offer a product or service.
“It is a recognition that the country’s foreign trade is important and serves as an important tool to regulate the economy,” said Juan Carlos Baker, an academic at the Universidad Panamericana (UP).
