Vietnam becomes new destination for Mexican businesses

Mexico's leading importer and distributor has turned to Vietnam in 2024 to source goods, especially clothing, footwear, plastic and wooden products.

Exported sports shoes products. (Illustration photo: Tran Viet/VNA)

According to a VNA reporter in Mexico City, in the context of Mexico increasing import taxes on countries without Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Vietnam is emerging as a potential trade partner of this Latin American country.

Speaking to a VNA reporter in Mexico on December 16, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Mexico Luu Van Khang affirmed that many leading Mexican importers and distributors have come to Vietnam in 2024 to seek sources of goods, especially clothing, footwear, plastic products and wooden products. These are also Vietnam's strengths.

According to Mr. Luu Van Khang, Vietnam and Mexico are both members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans -Pacific Partnership (CPTTP) with preferential import and export tariffs, so Vietnamese enterprises need to take advantage of the benefits brought by this new generation FTA to increase penetration into Mexico's market of 130 million people.

Specifically, Mexico has committed to eliminating 77% of tariff lines, equivalent to 36.5% of import turnover from Vietnam, and will increase this level to 98% in the 10th year since the agreement comes into effect.

Thanks to that, Vietnam's export items such as seafood, coffee, rubber, phones and auto parts and components have recorded impressive growth. In contrast, Mexico has also gradually increased the export of beef, pork, agricultural products and beverages to Vietnam.

Notably, in addition to the advantages that CPTPP brings, Vietnamese products exported to Mexico will also have more competitive prices after the Mexican Government continued to increase import taxes on more than 500 product codes from countries that have not signed FTAs with this North American country for over a year, with the highest tax rate up to 50%.

According to Trade Counselor Luu Van Khang, in addition to the efforts of businesses and authorities of the two countries in promoting trade promotion activities, the trend of Mexican importers looking to Vietnam as an alternative market has also contributed to raising bilateral trade turnover between the two countries to 5.9 billion USD in the first 11 months of 2024 and is expected to reach 6.4 billion USD for the whole year of 2024, an increase of 23% compared to 2023.

2024 also witnessed many positive activities of Vietnamese enterprises in Mexico, notably the event where VinFast and the Durango State Drivers Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate in the green transition of public transport, including the possibility of the Durango Drivers Union purchasing 3,000 VF5 electric vehicles and 300 electric buses.

In addition, in 2024, Vietnam's Formula Air company completed a project to install a factory ventilation system for the Volkswagen Group in Puebla state.

Meanwhile, FPT Corporation in Mexico has expanded its network of collaborators in Latin America to 1,000 people.

Referring to the prospects for 2025, Mr. Luu Van Khang affirmed that bilateral trade between the two countries still has a lot of room for further development, especially since Vietnam and Mexico are both large markets and have many similarities such as population size and purchasing power, with many products and industries that complement each other.

However, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Mexico Luu Van Khang noted that Vietnamese enterprises doing business in Mexico need to pay attention to completing product dossiers, especially issues related to certificates of origin and production processes in the context that the Mexican government is increasingly tightening related legal regulations to protect domestic production as well as meet the requirements of the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA), of which the country is a member.

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