With ‘made-by-China’ under US pressure, Mexican trade probes spark concerns over curbs
- Mexico imposed a provisional duty on Chinese steel nail producers on Friday, having also placed duties on steel balls imported from China earlier this month
- Analysts say Mexico is under pressure from the US, with Washington likely to increase measures aimed at limiting Chinese exports and investment flows into Mexico
Mexican tariffs on Chinese steel products indicate a willingness to accommodate US demands, analysts said, with additional trade curbs in the run-up to November’s presidential election set to add to the concerns of Chinese producers and investors.
Mexico’s Ministry of Economy imposed a provisional compensatory duty of 31 per cent on Chinese steel nail producers on Friday, according to its Official Gazette of the Federation, after concluding an anti-dumping investigation that had started in September.
Chinese firms still have a chance to appeal, but the tariffs came less than two weeks after Mexico also imposed duties of between 3.68 and 12.35 per cent on steel balls imported from China after concluding another anti-dumping investigation.
And according to China Trade Remedies Information, a monitoring agency affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce, more than 240 similar cases were filed against Chinese companies in recent years, representing about one tenth of the cases filed by the US.
The US will likely increase measures aimed at curtailing the rise in Chinese exports and foreign direct investment flows to Mexico
“Trade data continues to indicate the increasing participation of Chinese inputs in US-bound exports,” S&P Global Market Intelligence said on Monday.