Over 1.4 million goods from China proactively seized by Mexico

Recently, Mexico's Tax Administration Service (SAT) announced that in July 2024, over 1.4 million goods from China were proactively seized, with an estimated value of 418 million pesos.

The seized goods include items such as slippers, sandals, fans, and backpacks. The reason for the seizure was that these products entered the national territory without proof of legal entry. Given the large quantity, this may involve one of the country's major distributors of such goods.

In addition, SAT has taken various actions so far this year. From January to June 2024, 181 inspections were carried out, seizing goods with an estimated value of 1.6 billion pesos. Among these, 62 inspections involved goods from industries such as shipping, machinery, furniture, footwear, electronics, textiles, and automobiles, totaling about 1.19 billion pesos.

The remaining 119 inspections included SAT's actions on highways, seizing goods worth 420 million pesos, involving industries such as machinery, footwear, clothing, electronics, textiles, toys, automobiles, and metal processing.

SAT stated that as part of the actions envisioned in the "2024 General Plan," the National Tax Administration has set up 91 checkpoints on major highways in the country, where the highest flow of foreign goods occurs. This has allowed fiscal impacts on 53% of the national territory and has resulted in the seizure of goods estimated to be worth 2 billion pesos so far in 2024.

Through these actions, the National Tax Administration reiterates its commitment to eliminating tax evasion, avoidance, and fraud by strengthening its oversight, with the aim of combating the illegal entry of foreign-origin goods into the national territory. According to a July 20 report on the Ministry of Commerce's website, Mexico has also tightened its import rules for e-commerce and courier companies.

The SAT announced a revision to Annex Five of the "2024 Foreign Trade General Rules," defining low-priced customs declaration avoidance by e-commerce platforms and courier companies for imported goods such as clothing, home goods, jewelry, kitchenware, toys, and electronics as smuggling and tax fraud. Specific illegal activities include:

1. Splitting orders shipped on the same day, week, or month into packages worth less than 50 USD, resulting in an undervaluation of the original order value;

2. Directly or indirectly participating in or assisting in order splitting to evade taxes, and misrepresenting or incorrectly describing order goods;

3. Providing advice, consulting, services, or participating in the execution of the aforementioned practices for split orders.

In April of this year, Mexican President López also signed a decree imposing temporary import duties ranging from 5% to 50% on 544 items, including steel, aluminum, textiles, clothing, footwear, wood, plastics, and their products.

The decree took effect on April 23 and is valid for two years. According to the decree, textiles, clothing, and footwear will be subject to a 35% temporary import duty; round steel with a diameter of less than 14 mm will incur a 50% temporary import duty. Goods imported from regions and countries with trade agreements with Mexico will benefit from preferential tariff treatment if they meet the agreement's provisions.

According to a July 17 report by the Mexican newspaper "El Economista," a World Trade Organization report released on July 17 shows that in 2023, Mexico's share of total exports to China reached 2.4%, a historic high. In recent years, Mexico's export volume to China has been continuously rising.