Tariff increases of as much as 50% will affect textiles, shoes, appliances, cars and auto parts among other things beginning in January.

China will be the most affected as Mexico imported $130 billion worth of products from the country in 2024, second only to the what Mexico bought from the United States. The Chinese government was critical of the proposed tariff increases when they were announced in September.

"The real reason has to do with the United States, it has to do with the review of the USMCA (free trade agreement) that is coming up, with the negotiations to obtain reductions, exemptions from the tariffs that Mexico is facing at this moment to access the U.S. market," said Oscar Ocampo, director of economic development at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness. Mexico still faces U.S. tariffs on the automotive sector, steel and aluminum.

But Ocampo said Mexico was bending to an unpredictable U.S. President Donald Trump and changing its commercial policy "in the wrong direction." He said the government was creating problems for a number of sectors, including auto parts, plastics, chemicals and textiles, because the tariffs will create disruptions in supply chains and could push inflation up at a time when the economy is slowing.