Mexico’s steep tariff hikes will hit 75% of India’s exports from January: GTRI report

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Three-quarters of India’s exports to Mexico are set to face a major setback from 1 January 2026, according to a report released on Friday by Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), after the Mexican senate approved steep tariff increases on goods imported from countries that don’t have a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Mexico.

According to the report, nearly 75% of India’s $5.75 billion of exports to Mexico in FY25 will be affected by the tariff hikes, fundamentally altering the economics of accessing India’s largest export destination in Latin America after Brazil. The tariff overhaul, cleared by both houses of the Mexican Congress on 11 December, raises duties on a wide range of products to as high as 50%, sharply eroding India’s competitiveness in the Mexican market.

The tariff hikes are widely seen as Mexico aligning its trade policy with that of the US, which has taken a protectionist turn under President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). By raising trade barriers for non-FTA partners, Mexico is signalling support for North American nearshoring (relocating a company's business operations or production activities to a nearby country) and tightening of supply chains around the USMCA region, the GTRI report noted.

GTRI co-founder Ajay Srivastava said Mexico’s move also reflects the growing fragility of global trade rules. “Mexico is now the second major economy after the US to openly breach WTO tariff commitments.

By charging different tariffs to different WTO members, Mexico undermines the most-favoured-nation principle, but these actions are going largely unchecked," he said. The proposal to start FTA negotiations with Mexico is still