A reporter asked: According to reports, Mexico plans to raise the import tariff rates on approximately 1,400 tariff lines of products such as automobiles, toys, steel, textiles and plastic products to 10% to 50% for countries that have not signed free trade agreements with it, including China. Meanwhile, some analyses hold that Mexico’s tariff hike is in line with the US’s long-standing attempt to contain China, could serve Mexico’s future trade negotiations with its North American partners, and aligns with the Plan México strategy to boost domestic production and consumption. What is the Ministry of Commerce’s comment on this?

Answer: We have noted the relevant reports and will closely follow Mexico’s tariff hike developments and conduct a careful assessment of the relevant final measures. At a time when the US’s arbitrary imposition of tariffs has sparked widespread opposition around the world, all countries should strengthen communication and coordination to jointly uphold free trade and multilateralism, and must never sacrifice the interests of third parties under the coercion of others. Against this backdrop, any unilateral tariff increase by Mexico, even if it is within the framework of WTO rules, will be regarded as appeasement and compromise to unilateral bullying. Once the relevant measures are implemented, they will not only harm the interests of relevant trading partners including China, but also seriously undermine the certainty of Mexico’s business environment and dampen enterprises’ confidence in investing in Mexico. China and Mexico are important economic and trade partners to each other. We are reluctant to see bilateral economic and trade cooperation affected by this, and hope that Mexico will act with the utmost prudence and think thrice before acting.

China has always maintained that all parties should resolve economic and trade differences through equal dialogue and consultation, opposes unilateralism, protectionism and discriminatory and exclusive measures in all forms, and firmly opposes all practices that harm China’s interests. China will take necessary measures in light of the actual situation to resolutely safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests.