Emilio Arteaga, Junior Partner of VTZ, participated on Wednesday, September 23 in the Panel «The implications of a Hard Brexit in trade and business Mexico-United Kingdom», which was co-organized by the British Chamber of Commerce in Mexico.

The Panel focused on where we are now in terms of trade and bilateral treaties, how a hard Brexit will affect trade relations, as well as what the options are for both countries going forward, including WTO rules.

The Panel was made up by Jaime López, Partner of Deforest Abogados, Paddy Kelly, Partner of Laytons LLP, and Emilio Arteaga, Junior Partner of VTZ. The panelists shared the political and economic context surrounding the Mexico-UK trade relationship.

Mexico – UK Trade in the Context of Brexit

Today, Mexico and the United Kingdom have 97% of their tariff lines liberalized as a result of the European Union – Mexico Free Trade Agreement, which is still in force. However, these preferential tariffs will be lost as a result of a possible and likely Hard Brexit.

Moreover, Mexico and the European Union concluded this year the negotiations regarding the modernization of their FTA. As for the trade in goods, the new EU-Mexico FTA will liberalize all goods, including meat, cheese, chocolate, cereal, pastries, pasta, among other products. For more information, visit our economic newsletter.

In the webinar, Emilio Arteaga provided a brief summary of international trade statistics between Mexico and the UK. For instance, exports from Mexico to the UK amounted to more than 2.5 billion dollars in 2019, while export from the UK to Mexico were equivalent to more than 2 billion dollars.

Immediate Consequences to UK goods

In the event of a hard Brexit, goods originating from the UK may be subject to Mexican Import Tariffs (import duties), Mexico’s default customs processing fee (i.e. .008% of the customs value), as well as any other applicable internal charge or tax (e.g. VAT and IEPS).

For more information on Mexico’s international trade policy, customs duties, tariffs, or taxes, register for VTZ’s Doing Business in Mexico Guide in the following link: International Trade.

For more information on the most traded goods between Mexico and the UK, check out our partners’ presentation:

Contact

Should you have any questions or wish for more information, do not hesitate to contact Emilio Arteaga (emilio[@]vtz.mx) or connect with him through Linked-In.