CPTPP
On Wednesday September 9th, the CPTPP Commission opened discussions between the UK and government officials from all 11 members of the Partnership to discuss the potential UK accession.
Though not much news has followed, news reports came that Vietnam expressly supported UK’s accession to the CPTPP at the end of September (see Reuter’s report). For more information about how a Hard Brexit may impact UK-Mexico Business, do not hesitate to review VTZ’s presentation.
Mexican Steel Exports to the US
As noted in a previous edition, Mexico established export automatic licenses on certain steel products. The Mexican Minister of Economy expressed at a press conference on Thursday last week that some products currently do not have export limits, such as rods, and others will eventually not be subject to an export limit, like slabs.
According to a news outlet, the Ministry of Economy has rejected some licenses, which has caused complaints. These measures and decisions have as an end goal to prevent Mexican companies from shipping Chinese steel-products Mexico to the US and, thus, avoiding possible US tariffs against Mexican steel products.
Nearshoring to Mexico?
On Monday 5 October the Ministry of Economy announced that it was in talks with 16 CEOs from multinational companies from Asia and Europe that seek to reorganize their supply chains nearer to the NorthAmerican market. This phenomenon is being called as “nearshoring”.
According to the Ministry, the multinational companies are from the following sectors: manufacturing, aerospace, electronic, and medical devices.
More information, here (in Spanish)
SAT aims tax audits to specific Industries
On Monday 5 October, the Director of the SAT, the Mexican Tax Authority, announced that SAT is developing a comprehensive tax audit program for certain industries, specifically the auto industry and steel industry. According to interview with the Director, these industries have not been subject to tax audits.
To access the interview, click the following link.
US – Mexico Trade
On Tuesday 6th October the Mexican Minister of Economy proudly announced that Mexico was the US main trading partner during January-August 2020. However, the US-Mexico trade has decreased by about 18% as compared to the same period of last year.
Child Labor and Forced Labor in Mexico
The Department of Labor issued its report on these issues, the report was reported in a Mexican news outlet this week. Accordingly, three new Mexican products were added to the list of child labor (i.e. cattle, garments, and leather goods), while two new products were identified using forced labor (i.e. Chile Peppers, Tomatoes).
We understand that goods from companies that are listed or identified as using forced labor may be seized at US customs.
Leading law firm in International Trade and Customs
This week, The Legal 500 released the Latin America 2021 ranking, and our firm is considered a «Top Tier» Mexican Law Firm since we are listed in the Tier 1 in the International Trade and Customs in Mexico.
Yesterday, Chambers and Partners released the Latin America 2021 ranking, and our firm is considered a «Top Ranked» Mexican Law Firm since we are listed in the Band 1 in the International Trade and WTO department.
Furthermore, our partner Adrian Vázquez is listed as a leading individual, Emilio Arteaga is considered as Next Generation Partner, while Eduardo Zepeda, Eduardo Gonzalez, and Mariana Malvaez are mentioned in the review of the Legal 500.
The VTZ team is honored to receive said recognition and takes the opportunity to thank our clients and friends for their trust. In line with our vision, we will continue to help our clients and friends through facilitating their international trade operations and tax matters in Mexico, but also adapting to these troublesome and challenging times.
