Mexico Tariffs Increase
Please see the following important notice from Roll & Harris LLP on Mexico's tariffs increase.
Mexico Raises Tariffs
Last week, the Mexican Congress approved changes proposed by Mexico’s President to the General Import-Export Law. While some of the approved duty rates were lower than those originally proposed, the changes impact approximately 1400 products. The affected industries and products include automotive, textile, clothing, plastic, steel, household appliance, aluminum, toy, furniture, footwear, leather goods, paper and cardboard, motorcycle, trailer, and glass industries - among others. A copy of the changes, which lists out the affected tariff classifications, may be downloaded here:
As can be seen, numerous Mexican tariff rates will increase -- with most of the changes raising tariffs to 20%, 25% and 35%. The above amendments to the General Import-Export Law take effect on January 1st, 2026.
The increase will negatively affect Mexican maquiladoras who import materials into Mexico that are not eligible for duty preferences granted by Mexican Free Trade Agreements (MXFTAs), for example, non-USMCA origin materials (i.e., China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Taiwan and Brazil). While the publication states:
with the aim of guaranteeing the supply of inputs in Mexico under competitive conditions, the Secretary of Economy may implement specific mechanisms and legal instruments corresponding to the importation of goods from countries with which the Mexican State does not have Free Trade Agreements in force
it remains to be seen whether Mexico will eliminate the tariff classifications that have tariff increases from Mexico's Sectoral Program (PROSEC), which normally grants certain industries or sectors relief from tariffs. Same for maquiladoras who try to use "Regla Octava" (Rule 8) to mitigate tariff impacts on their operations.
Maquiladoras will be negatively affected because the main duty relief afforded to maquiladoras is that of duty deferral, NOT duty elimination. The USMCA mandates that duties cannot be deferred in excess of whatever is less: the deferred duties on the non-USMCA raw materials when imported into Mexico or the US or Canadian duties charged on the finished product. Based on this mandate, if non-USMCA origin materials are imported into Mexico, with duties deferred, and the maquiladora makes a good that enters the United States duty-free under USMCA, Mexico requires the maquiladora to pay the deferred Mexican duties. Accordingly, with an increase in the Mexican duty rates and more products entering the United States duty-free under USMCA, maquiladoras likely will have to pay more tariffs in the future.
Companies manufacturing in maquiladoras should review and closely monitor the origin of their raw materials and potentially implement changes in sourcing to procure more MXFTA/USMCA origin raw materials. As noted above, it remains to be seen whether/how Mexico will change its Sectoral and Rule 8 Programs in light of the new proposed tariff increases.
If you have any questions, please contact our office.
Reminder on ISPM Stamp
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a reminder that the temporary suspension of the hyphen requirement for ISPM 15 markings on Wood Packaging Material (WPM) will end on December 31, 2025.
This means that beginning on January 1, 2026, every ISPM 15 stamp must feature the hyphen between the two-letter country code and the facility (producer) code. See notice here.
Shippers who do not comply with this new requirement could trigger serious enforcement actions, such as cargo holds, shipments re-exported, or incurring significant financial penalties.
Additionally, any shipper with a non-compliant WPM shipment that is expected to arrive to the United States after the December 31, 2025 deadline will have two options to avoid an enforcement action. These are:
- Divert the shipment to another country where the WPM can be reconditioned to meet compliance standards.
- Self-report the noncompliance to APHIS and Customs and Border Protection and initiate the process to make the shipment compliant in advance. This proactive approach may help expedite handling upon arrival.
If you have any questions, please contact us for further guidance.
Steel & Aluminum Inclusion Updates
Please see the following important message from Ted Murphy of regarding the recent steel and aluminum inclusion requests.
As you may recall, the Section 232 steel and aluminum inclusions process opened for petitions on September 15, 2025, and more than 95 petitions for inclusion were ultimately filed (covering hundreds of additional tariff classifications). The Presidential Proclamations, and the implementing regulations Commerce published for the inclusions process, require that decisions on such petitions be issued within 60 days of receipt.
The decision date for this latest round of petitions (i.e., no later than November 28, 2025) has come and gone with no additional inclusions (or decisions) being announced. Also, it now being reported that Commerce does not intend to issue any decisions on inclusions for articles containing steel and aluminum in 2025. Commerce has not provided any explanation (or legal support) for the delay.
If Commerce does ultimately issue decisions from this round, impacted importers may want to consider legal challenges based on the agency’s failure to comply with the required 60-day decision deadline.
If you have any questions, please contact our office.
Updates on IEEPA Refunds
Please see the following message from Roll & Harris LLP regarding updates on IEEPA refunds.
Supreme Court Tariff Cases: Reciprocal and Fentanyl Tariffs
The Latest re What Importers Need to Know About Potential Refunds
As most importers know by now, the Supreme Court heard oral argument on November 5th re the legality of the IEEPA tariffs. A decision, whatever it may be, will be issued during this Supreme Court's current term – which ends in June 2026.
Judging from the questions our firm has been receiving from clients and friends of the firm, as well as discussions with other members of the bar, it remains far from clear what will happen should the Supreme Court agree with the lower courts. Should importers file their own refund lawsuits now? What about protests or requests for extension of liquidation? Or should importers just do nothing and take a "wait and see" approach?
Since our last webinar on this topic, and the oral arguments at the Supreme Court, there have been several developments and, indeed, our own thinking has evolved. First, many more importers (over 70 as of this writing, including Costco - perhaps one of the most recognizable large importer names) have now sued for refunds. Second, CBP has indicated (informally) that it will not entertain requests for extensions of liquidation. Thus, many of the importers who have sued are requesting the Court of International Trade to order CBP to refrain from liquidating those importers' entries out of fear that the government will later take the position that the IEEPA tariffs cannot be refunded on liquidated entries, and that a protest is a nullity since (the government might decide to argue) the liquidations with IEEPA tariffs are not decisions made by CBP (recall that only CBP decisions may be protested, not liquidation generally).
While each importer will have to make its own decision about how to best protect its own rights to potential refunds (after consulting its own customs and trade counsel), we believe it will be helpful to provide importers with an overview of the issues that will arise regarding refunds should the Supreme Court rule against the Trump Administration - at least as we see them.
To that end, we are offering a free 60-minute webinar on Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 10 am West Coast time to discuss what potential refund scenarios may look like and what importers should do to protect their right to a refund. We also will discuss when they should take action. A link to register may be found here.
If you have any questions, please contact our office.
IEEPA Refunds Notice
Please see the following notice from GDLSK LLP regarding potential IEEPA refunds.
IEEPA Refund Litigation Update
We sent out an overview of the potential IEEPA refund situation explaining how companies can protect rights to potential IEEPA Tariff refunds. One of the concerns we highlighted is that in the event of a favorable U.S. Supreme Court decision, IEEPA refunds may not be available for entries that have liquidated.
To protect against this eventuality, we have started filing protective cases in the U.S. Court of International Trade for our clients that request the court to enjoin U.S. Customs from liquidating the company’s entries. The purpose of the court filing is to maintain the status quo for the company until the final outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court case and refund methodology (if any) is known.
Imports that are most at risk of liquidating before a final U.S. Supreme Court decision are entries subject to the China Fentanyl IEEPA that went into place on February 4, 2025. Entries made on or after February 4, 2025, will likely begin liquidating after December 15, 2025, based upon CBP’s normal 314-day liquidation cycle.
The Mexico and Canada Fentanyl IEEPA tariffs were implemented on March 4, 2025, and entries subject to those tariffs will therefore likely start to liquidate on or after January 12, 2026.
The Liberation Day tariffs were implemented on April 2, 2025, and entries subject to those tariffs will likely start to liquidate on or after February 10, 2026.
If importers have entries that will begin liquidating, the most prudent and conservative option is for the importer to file its own protective case in the Court of International Trade.
If you have any questions, please contact our office.
China Trade Updates
Please see the following message from Accelerate Strategies regarding recent tariff updates on China.
Last week, USTR announced it will continue to exempt nearly 200 categories of products from U.S. tariffs on China, citing progress in the Trump administration's trade negotiations with Beijing.
The exclusions apply to 178 categories of Chinese-origin products, which will now avoid tariffs of between 7.5 to 25% that President Trump imposed on Chinese imports during his first term. The tariffs were due to come into force November 29, but these products will now be excluded until November 10, 2026 according to this Federal Register notice. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will issue instructions on entry guidance and implementation.
If you have any questions, please contact our office.