Mexico agreed to eliminate tariffs on chocolate imports from European Union countries.
This relief is part of the modernization of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Mexico (EU-Mexico FTA 2.0), whose negotiations concluded last Friday.
The dismantling of tariffs was also granted in the opposite direction, to Mexican chocolate exports to the European Union market.
Tariffs on chocolate
From January to November 2024, Mexico registered chocolate imports from all over the world for a customs value of 438 million dollars.
In contrast, Mexican foreign sales of this product totaled 770 million dollars.
Chocolate is produced from cocoa. This ingredient comes from the cocoa pods that grow on cocoa trees. Each pod contains numerous large seeds. The seeds go through a special process. They are first fermented and then dried. At the end, they are transformed into cocoa beans.
This is the trend in Mexican imports of chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa, in millions of dollars:
- 2018: 289.
- 2019: 289.
- 2020: 220.
- 2021: 261.
- 2022: 319.
- 2023: 373.
- 2024 (January-November): 418.
Among the main sources of Mexican chocolate imports are the United States, Canada, Germany, Belgium and Italy.
Mars, Mondelez and Nestlé are among the largest chocolate exporters in Mexico.
Mexican exports of this product are concentrated in the United States, with other destinations such as Canada, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.
Below is the trajectory of Mexican chocolate exports to the world, millions of dollars:
- 2018: 612.
- 2019: 699.
- 2020: 641.
- 2021: 635.
- 2022: 721.
- 2023: 761.
- 2024 (January-November): 770.
Negotiations
Political, trade and cooperation relations between the European Union and Mexico are governed by the Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement (Global Agreement, which includes the EU-Mexico FTA), which entered into force in 2000. Since 2008, Mexico has been one of the European Union’s 10 strategic partners.
The European Union and Mexico began negotiations for a new, modernized Global Agreement in May 2016.