Mexico’s new government considers tax incentives to lure foreign companies

Mexico is assessing how to spark more investment as companies look to move supply chains closer to their main market, the United States

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Trucks wait in a long queue for border customs control to cross into US at the World Trade Bridge in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:13am, 22 Oct 2024Updated: 3:06pm, 22 Oct 2024

Mexico is considering tax credits to attract foreign firms to invest and produce domestically, targeted at electric vehicles (EV), semiconductors, rare earth minerals, battery and electronics sectors, a top Mexican trade official said in an interview.

The comments come as Mexico’s new government assesses how to spark more investment as companies look to move supply chains closer to their main market, while simultaneously navigating a turbulent and more protectionist period in the US ahead of presidential elections.

“We are seriously analysing creating tax credit incentive programmes very similar to those in the United States and Canada … and we believe that would allow us to attract many companies to Mexico,” deputy Foreign Trade Minister Luis Rosendo Gutierrez told Reuters on Friday.

Gutierrez said the incentives would apply to companies from any country interested in investing in Mexico, including China.

Mexico has reportedly started working with companies such as Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn. Photo: Reuters

Mexico would not be a “springboard” for China to enter the United States, he underscored.