Sheinbaum exempts tariffs on automotive assembly parts for five years

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo decreed the temporary exemption of the import tariff for tariff heading 9803.00.01 of the Tariff of the Law of General Import and Export Taxes (TIGIE), relating to parts and components for automobile assembly. The instrument is published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, under publication number 280/2026, and enters into force the day following its publication, with a validity of five years.

The decree was signed at the residence of the Federal Executive Power, in Mexico City, on October 9, 2026, and bears the signatures of the Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Édgar Abraham Amador Zamora, and the Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubon. It is issued based on articles 89, fraction I, 25, and 131, second paragraph, of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, and articles 4, fraction I, and 12 of the Foreign Trade Law, and includes the opinion of the Foreign Trade Commission.

The measure is part of the national strategy “Plan México,” presented on January 13, 2025, which proposes expanding import substitution with value chains and strengthening national industry, as well as the National Development Plan 2025-2030 (DOF, April 15, 2025) and the Sectoral Economy Program 2025-2030 (DOF, December 22, 2025).

What changes in the tariff rate

The Sole Article of the decree temporarily modifies the import tariff for heading 9803.00.01 of the TIGIE, published in the DOF on June 7, 2022, and its subsequent modifications. The heading is now set to “Ex.” —meaning exempt— for both the general import tax and the export tax, with the kilogram as the unit of measurement.

Until now, this heading was subject to an ad valorem import tariff of 10%, a situation that, according to the recitals, could constitute an obstacle to attracting new production and assembly lines for light vehicles to the national territory.

Beneficiaries and conditions of the exemption

The official description of the heading limits the benefit to a specific universe of importers:

• Companies in the terminal automotive industry that have fiscal warehouse authorization for the assembly and manufacture of vehicles in accordance with the Customs Law.
• Projects that comply with the guidelines issued for this purpose by the Ministry of Economy.
• Vehicle assembly schemes of the Semi Knocked Down (SKD) or Completely Knocked Down (CKD) type, considered the initial stage of more complex manufacturing processes.
• Goods classified exclusively under heading 9803.00.01, with the unit of measurement in kilograms.
• Validity of five years starting from the entry into force, scheduled for October 14, 2026.

Background and Arguments of the Executive

The decree recalls that the TIGIE was published on June 7, 2022, and that its rates have been modified by decrees published in the DOF on November 18, 2022; January 6 and 16, May 18, June 23, and August 15, 2023; April 22, May 8, and December 19, 2024; July 21, November 10, and December 29, 2025; and March 26 and April 23, 2026.

Among the arguments presented, the federal Executive maintains that the exemption will reduce the establishment and operation costs of new automotive projects, incentivize the installation of production lines, the generation of specialized jobs, and the transfer of technology, and strengthen the regional integration of value chains. It adds that the international situation, characterized by foreign trade restrictions, requires rethinking production models so that the automotive industry established in Mexico maintains its global competitiveness.

The text also emphasizes that the establishment of infrastructure to manufacture complete vehicles requires long planning periods and the development of parts and components suppliers, therefore initial assembly serves as a preliminary step toward more complex production processes.

Impact for Importers and Value Chains

The exemption eliminates, for five years, a 10% tariff that taxed the import of parts and components destined for assembly, which reduces costs for assemblers with authorized fiscal warehouses and for their suppliers. Being conditioned upon the guidelines of the Ministry of Economy, the measure is limited to long-term productive investments and does not extend to importers outside of that assumption.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, Publication No. 280/2026, Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Section I (Executive Branch), pgs. 4-6 (official reference: Decree modifying the Tariff of the Law of General Import and Export Taxes, No. 280/2026).