Article content

(Bloomberg) — Mexico is planning to carry out a “cleaning” operation across the country to combat the flow of illegal merchandise entering the country mainly from China, according to the Economy Ministry. 

Article content

The ministry will lead searches across all 32 Mexican states, including ports and airports, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Friday. The move follows a raid on Thursday in which some 200 officials searched a shopping square in Mexico City known for selling Chinese goods. The government seized over 260,000 items with an estimated value of 7.5 million pesos ($370,000). 

Article content

“The searches will help determine the size of these illegal flows of goods entering the country,” said Luis Enrique Vazquez, technical secretary for the ministry’s foreign trade office, in a phone interview. “They will enable us to trace and quantify the volumes we are dealing with, that seem to be huge.”

Vazquez declined to disclose when and where the next searches will be done, citing security reasons. 

The US and Canada have voiced concerns that Mexico’s trade practices with China are not aligned with its North American allies. There’s also been growing investor jitters after Donald Trump announced earlier this week his intention to impose tariffs on its neighbors, in an effort to pressure them to curb the flow of migrants and the entry of illegal drugs such as fentanyl.

Asked by reporters whether the move was a signal to Trump, Ebrard joked that he hadn’t received a call from the US president-elect about the specific Mexico City mall that was raided. 

Mexican authorities found on Thursday’s search an array of products, from screws to coffee machines, to toys and textiles. The objects for sale included items from Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. 

Article content

Local chambers of commerce have also accused Chinese e-commerce platforms of bending rules to avoid taxes on their packages. The economy ministry is currently working with the finance ministry and the country’s tax body on a mechanism to ensure these platforms pay taxes, Vazquez said. 

Mexico’s tax agency last month announced in a statement measures to increase control and monitoring of merchandise entering the country. Ensuring platforms pay taxes is the next step, he said. 

Vazquez said the measures have been in the works for months and denied that they were in response to pressure from the US. 

“You can’t plan such operations in a matter of days over one remark. We’ve been planning this for months,” he said, adding that the move aims to guarantee better conditions for Mexico’s local industries.

—With assistance from Alex Vasquez.

Share this article in your social network