The Mexican Ministry of Economy has tightened its actions to control steel and aluminum imports into Mexico. 

These actions have been taken in coordination with the U.S. government.

The reason: the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has pressured Mexico to prevent the triangulation of Chinese steel and aluminum imports into the United States from Mexico.

During 2024, the Ministry of Economy has worked for the development of a foreign trade statistical platform that aims to track the behavior of Mexico’s trade flows, especially regarding steel and aluminum products.

Steel and aluminum imports

On February 27, 2024, the Ministry of Economy and officials from the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) discussed cooperation between the two countries on trade in steel products.

Imports of cast iron and steel to Mexico, in millions of dollars: 

• 2018: 21,401.
• 2019: 20,571.
• 2020: 17,023.
• 2021: 28,585
• 2022: 33,561
• 2023: 34,648

The sources of these data are the U.S. Department of Commerce and Inegi.

Imports include cast iron, iron and steel products and manufactures of cast iron or steel.

Control of steel and aluminum imports

Among the measures, Mexico incorporated as part of the requirements for the authorization of automatic import notifications for steel products, mill and quality certificates, depending on the type of merchandise in question.

These notices contain information on the country where the steel was melted and cast.

For this purpose, on April 15, 2024, the Ministry of Economy published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) the updated requirements of the documentation and information needed to submit the corresponding applications.

At the same time, in addition to the traditional process of submitting applications through the Mexican Foreign Trade Window (VUCEM), the possibility of registering in the Registry of importers of steel products was granted. 

As of July 31, a total of 2,407 beneficiaries had been authorized to import 15.5 million tons of steel.

The VUCEM is a comprehensive service platform that facilitates compliance with non-tariff regulations and restrictions prior to customs clearance, guarantees transparency, simplifies and enhances foreign trade operations, and facilitates logistics.

Imports of aluminum and its manufactures to Mexico, in millions of dollars:

• 2018: 7,031.
• 2019: 6,855.
• 2020: 5,863.
• 2021: 8,717.
• 2022: 11,640.
• 2023: 9,496.

The sources of this data are also the U.S. Department of Commerce and Inegi.