Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Wednesday that the era of no tariffs is unlikely to return, and that duties targeting automotive, steel and aluminum products are expected to remain even if the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is revisited.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event, Ebrard told reporters: "We shouldn’t be nostalgic about a time when there were no tariffs." He added: "When it comes to the automotive industry, steel and aluminum—which have been our priority—we know it is very difficult to think that tariffs will disappear. What we are looking for is how to reduce them."
Those remarks followed a separate message from U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer earlier in the week, in which Greer told Mexico’s auto and steel sectors they should not expect the renegotiation of USMCA to remove existing tariffs on those industries. Ebrard, who will lead Mexico’s side in talks with the United States aimed at revamping USMCA starting the week of May 25, said Greer conveyed the same position to Mexican business leaders and reiterated it to U.S. lawmakers.
"The world - the global trading system we had, based on free trade - is very unlikely to return," Ebrard said in his comments.
U.S. commitment to tariffs
Greer told the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee that President Donald Trump intends to keep tariffs in place on imports to the United States and that his trade policies remain unchanged. Greer said: "He’s not going to go back to the old situation where we had no tariffs and we just let foreign goods made by foreign workers come in without any fee to the detriment of domestic workers. The president will have tariffs using appropriate legal tools."
Mexico and Canada have viewed USMCA renegotiations as a potential avenue to ease the steep duties imposed last year, which have created difficulties for automakers and other industries operating in a highly integrated North American economy. In contrast to the zero tariff treatment under USMCA, the United States last year applied a 25% national security tariff on automotive imports from Mexico and Canada.
Automakers point out that the value of U.S. content can be deducted from the import value of vehicles and parts, but they maintain that the 25% duty places Mexico and Canada at a competitive disadvantage relative to other major car-producing markets. For comparison, vehicles from Japan, South Korea and the European Union face a 15% tariff when entering the United States, while cars from Britain are charged 10%.
Mexico’s steel industry is also subject to heavy U.S. duties: a 50% tariff on commodity steel and aluminum products, and a 25% duty on derivative goods that contain at least 15% of those metals by weight.
Outlook for negotiations
Ebrard’s comments frame Mexico’s strategy for upcoming negotiations as pragmatic - seeking reductions rather than a full rollback of tariffs. With talks scheduled to begin the week of May 25, the focus from Mexico’s perspective will be on how to alleviate the burden these duties impose on key sectors while accepting that a return to a tariff-free environment is unlikely.
Note: The information in this report reflects statements made by the officials named and the current tariff measures in place as described.