Get a written HS classification opinion for your machine and your parts basket before ordering into Mexico. Duty exposure turns on the code, and the new customs file and Importers Registry rules apply either way.
*By Telescro Editorial Team*
Mexico’s reform of the General Import and Export Duties Law took effect on 1 January 2026, raising duties on 1,463 tariff lines for goods originating in countries without a Mexican free trade agreement. White & Case describes China as one of the largest non-FTA suppliers to Mexico in the affected sectors. None of the sector lists published by the firms tracking the reform names construction machinery, which puts the burden on you to confirm your own classification rather than assume the machine is caught.
## What Changed
The Mexican Senate approved the amendments on 10 December 2025, according to Clark Hill, and the decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on 29 December 2025, according to White & Case. The measure consolidates earlier executive decrees from 2023 and 2024 into permanent legislation and extends coverage to lines that carried no duty before.
Two separate instruments landed alongside it. The Customs Law was amended on 19 November 2025 and the 2026 General Rules of Foreign Trade were published on 27 December 2025, both applying from 1 January 2026, according to Alvarez & Marsal. Those rules expand the documentary file every importer has to keep and add new grounds for suspending an entry in the Importers Registry.
China’s Ministry of Commerce concluded that the Mexican measures meet the definition of a trade and investment barrier under Chinese law and said it retained the right to take countermeasures, in a finding reported on 26 March 2026 by The China-Global South Project.
## Key Numbers
The reform covers 1,463 tariff lines, about 12% of the Mexican tariff schedule, of which 316 previously carried no duty, according to White & Case and Alvarez & Marsal. White & Case describes the increases as ranging from 5% to 50%. Clark Hill describes the same measure as ranging from 10% to 50%. The two readings differ, so treat the band as approximate until your classification is confirmed.
Alvarez & Marsal published the headline sector moves: steel from 25% to 35%, aluminum from 0% to 25%, plastics from 15% to 25%, auto parts from 0% to 25%, paper from 5% to 35%, and automobiles from 20% to 50%.
Express shipments moved separately. The global rate for courier goods valued up to USD 2,500 rose from 19% to 33.5%, excluding shipments originating in the United States or Canada, according to Alvarez & Marsal.
Goods entering under the bonded warehouse regime have to reach the facility within 20 days or be treated as illegally in the country, again per Alvarez & Marsal.
China’s Ministry of Commerce put the exposure at more than $30 billion in Chinese exports to Mexico, with an estimated $9.4 billion of losses concentrated in mechanical and electrical sectors.
## What It Means for Equipment Buyers
If you import telehandlers into Mexico from a non-FTA origin, the first thing to establish is whether your HS code sits inside those 1,463 lines. Alvarez & Marsal lists the affected industries as cosmetics, plastics, leather, paper, textiles, apparel, footwear, steel, aluminum, automotive, auto parts and toys. White & Case names an overlapping but wider set that adds appliances, furniture, glass, motorcycles and trailers, and Clark Hill adds trucks. None of the three lists names construction machinery. The final rate depends on binding HS classification, so ask your customs broker for a written classification opinion before you commit to a purchase order.
Your spare parts exposure is a separate question from the machine itself. Steel, aluminum and auto parts all moved up, and a fork carriage, a jib or a replacement boom cylinder can classify very differently from a complete machine. Price the parts basket on its own line.
Origin now carries a visible arbitrage. A machine built in a USMCA country, or in Japan or Singapore, enters under preferential treatment, while the same specification from a non-FTA origin may not. That changes the landed comparison against European brands routed through their Mexican distributors, and against Brazilian assembly. Run the comparison on landed cost with a confirmed classification rather than on FOB price.
## Telescro Analysis
The practical implication is that the compliance side of this reform may cost you more attention than the duty side. The foreign trade file requirements, the new Importers Registry suspension grounds and the 20 day bonded warehouse clock are operational obligations that apply whichever tariff line your machine falls under.
This suggests buyers in Mexico should treat 2026 as a year to document rather than a year to rush. For buyers weighing a 7 m class agricultural or construction machine against a compact unit under 6 m, settle the classification question before the specification is frozen, because carriage and attachment choices can shift the parts exposure more than the base machine does.
## Risks or Limitations
The sector lists above come from law firm and advisory summaries rather than a line by line reading of the decree. The absence of construction machinery from those summaries is not proof that no machinery line moved. Only a binding classification from Mexican customs, or a written opinion from a licensed broker, settles the question for a specific model.
The two published ranges for the increase differ, and the sector rate pairs conflict in at least one place: Alvarez & Marsal puts auto parts at 0% to 25%, while White & Case describes many auto parts lines landing between 7% and 36%. The MOFCOM loss estimate covers all mechanical and electrical goods rather than construction equipment specifically, and the bulk of that exposure sits in automotive rather than in machinery. White & Case also frames the duties as applying to imports from every country unless FTA preference is claimed, rather than as a rule that targets non-FTA origins by name, so the practical effect depends on whether your shipment can claim preference. The transitory article of the reform also lets Mexico’s Ministry of Economy create specific import mechanisms for non-FTA goods where supply conditions require it, so the picture can still move.
## Sources
– [White & Case](https://www.whitecase.com/insight-alert/mexico-formalizes-and-expands-import-tariffs-more-1400-products-key-impacts)
– [Alvarez & Marsal](https://www.alvarezandmarsal.com/thought-leadership/mexico-2026-trade-and-customs-updates-tariff-increases-and-new-compliance-requirements)
– [Clark Hill](https://www.clarkhill.com/news-events/news/mexico-approves-significant-tariff-increases-on-imports-from-non-fta-countries/)
– [The China-Global South Project](https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2026/03/26/china-mexico-tariffs-trade-barriers-countermeasures/)