China Announces Investigation Into Trade and Investment Barriers Related to Mexico's Restrictions on China

On the 25th, according to a message on the Ministry of Commerce's website, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce answered questions from reporters regarding the initiation of an investigation into trade and investment barriers related to Mexico's restrictions on China.

Question: We noticed that the Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement to initiate a trade and investment barrier investigation on measures related to China by Mexico. Can you introduce the relevant situation?

China believes that in the current context of the U.S. indiscriminately imposing tariffs, all countries should jointly oppose various forms of unilateralism and protectionism and must not sacrifice the interests of third parties due to coercion by others. If Mexico's unilateral tariff increase is implemented, even within the WTO framework, it will harm the interests of relevant trading partners, including China, and severely affect the certainty of Mexico's business environment, reducing companies' confidence in investing in Mexico. China firmly opposes this.

In order to resolutely safeguard the interests of relevant industries in China, the Ministry of Commerce has decided to initiate a trade and investment barrier investigation regarding Mexico's proposed increase in import tariffs and other restrictive measures against China, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Foreign Trade Law and the Rules for Investigating Trade Barriers.

The investigation will adhere to the principles of justice, fairness, and transparency. We welcome all interested parties affected by the measures, including industries and enterprises within China, to actively participate. The Ministry of Commerce will make an objective and fair ruling based on the investigation results and will take necessary measures according to the actual situation to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

The Ministry of Commerce has announced an investigation into trade and investment barriers related to China's restrictions on Mexico.

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China and the Investigation Rules on Foreign Trade Barriers by the Ministry of Commerce, to maintain the order of foreign trade, the Ministry of Commerce may independently conduct investigations into trade and investment barriers of relevant countries and regions.

Preliminary evidence and information obtained by the Ministry of Commerce indicate that, according to the proposal published in Mexico's "Congress Gazette" on September 9, 2025, regarding the adjustment of several import tariffs, the Mexican government intends to increase import tariff rates on products from China and other non-free trade partners. This measure will severely harm the trade and investment interests of Chinese enterprises.

In accordance with Articles 36 and 37 of the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China and Articles 12 and 35 of the Rules on Investigation of Foreign Trade Barriers, the Ministry of Commerce has decided to initiate an investigation into trade and investment barriers concerning relevant restrictive measures by Mexico against China, starting from September 25, 2025. The relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:

1. Investigated Measures and Involved Products

The measures under investigation in this case are related to the Mexican government's proposal to increase import tariff rates on products from non-free trade partners such as China. Specifically, this involves categories such as automobiles and auto parts, textiles, clothing, plastics, steel, appliances, aluminum, toys, furniture, footwear, leather goods, paper and cardboard, motorcycles, and glass. Additionally, other trade and investment restriction measures involving China that Mexico has implemented in recent years are also within the scope of this investigation.

Investigation Procedure

According to the provisions of the "Foreign Trade Barrier Investigation Rules," the Ministry of Commerce can use questionnaires, hearings, on-site investigations, and other methods to understand the situation from interested parties and conduct investigations.

3. Investigation Period

The case should be concluded within 6 months from the date of the decision announcement to initiate the case. In special circumstances, an extension may be granted, but the extended period shall not exceed 3 months.

IV. Review of Public Information

Interested parties can download the public information of this case from the sub-website of the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau on the Ministry of Commerce's website or find, read, transcribe, and photocopy it at the Trade Remedy Public Information Review Room of the Ministry of Commerce (Tel: 0086-10-65197878).

V. Comments on the Case Filing

Interested parties should submit their written comments on issues related to the case filing to the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce within 20 days from the date of this announcement.

6. Submission and Handling of Information

Stakeholders should submit comments, questionnaires, and other responses during the investigation through the "Trade Remedy Investigation Information System" (https://etrb.mofcom.gov.cn) in electronic form, and in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Commerce, simultaneously submit a written version. The content of the electronic and written versions should be identical, and the format should remain consistent.

Stakeholders who believe that the disclosure of the materials they provide will have a severely adverse impact can apply to the Ministry of Commerce for the materials to be treated as confidential, providing reasons for their request. If the Ministry of Commerce agrees to their request, the stakeholders applying for confidentiality must also provide a non-confidential summary of the confidential information. The non-confidential summary should contain sufficient meaningful information to allow other stakeholders to have a reasonable understanding of the confidential information. If a non-confidential summary cannot be provided, reasons must be given. If the information submitted by the stakeholders is not marked as confidential, the Ministry of Commerce will treat the information as public.

Business Contact Address

Address: No. 2 East Chang'an Avenue, Beijing

Postal Code: 100731

Bureau of Trade Remedy and Investigation, Ministry of Commerce

Phone: 0086-10-65198155, 65198070

Fax: 0086-10-65198172

Related website: Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau Sub-website of the Ministry of Commerce (https://trb.mofcom.gov.cn)

Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China

September 25, 2025