Reforms to Mexico's Customs Law and General Import and Export Tax Law

Customs Law

Executive Summary

Mexico's federal executive presented on Sept. 9, 2025, the "Draft decree amending, adding to, and repealing various provisions of the Customs Law (bill)," which, although aimed at modernizing and strengthening Mexico's customs framework, warns of various modifications that could affect the dynamism of Mexican foreign trade, in addition to increasing sanctions, fines, and new cases of infraction and responsibilities subject to taxes.

This is one of the current administration's priority economic reforms, framed within the 2026 Economic Package, which aims to improve the efficiency of foreign trade operations, increase tax collection, and combat tax evasion and smuggling head-on. These objectives make it worthwhile to conduct a technical assessment of the proposed modifications, as well as the potential effects of stricter rules on all stakeholders involved.

Below is a summary of the context, key elements of the bill and potential risks for businesses.

Context

• This bill is driven by the government's priority to increase revenue collection and security at customs without imposing new taxes.
• Mexican customs contribute significantly to public revenue, so the government is seeking to close the door to illicit practices – such as undervaluation of goods, technical smuggling, use of shell companies, among others – that reduce revenue and harm national industry.
• The bill was immediately referred to the Finance and Public Credit Committee in the House of Representatives for analysis.
• Various business stakeholders have pointed out that, if properly implemented, the bill could streamline foreign trade. However, they also warn that if excessive burdens are imposed on Mexican trade actors, it could become a barrier that affects regional competitiveness, i.e., counteracting the primary objective of this reform.

Main Points of the Bill

Institutional and Technological Strengthening

• The bill formally recognizes the shared powers in customs matters between the Tax Administration Service (Servicio de Administración Tributaria or SAT) and the National Customs Agency of Mexico (Agencia Nacional de Aduanas de México or ANAM), harmonizing the law to provide greater legal certainty in the application of the rules.
• The complete digitalization of customs is being promoted through state-of-the-art electronic systems: digital inventory control, video surveillance, traceability and real-time monitoring of goods, interoperable on a national platform with remote access for authorities.
• Customs authorities are also authorized to sign technological collaboration agreements with the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency to improve information technology (IT) systems and customs data analysis.

Regulation of Customs Agents

• A specific validity of 10 years is established for the customs broker license, subject to periodic renewal for equal periods, provided the corresponding requirements continue to be met.
• Specifically, the bill proposes that customs brokers must be certified every two years to keep their patents active for the duration of their validity. This seeks to ensure that customs brokers continue to meet all professional requirements and standards, providing legal certainty regarding their competence and reliability. The measure does not eliminate acquired rights, as brokers may request successive extensions as long as they continue to meet the originally required conditions.
• Customs agents are now required to maintain a file on exporters and importers to prove that they are fully identified, have infrastructure and are not affiliated with taxpayers listed in accordance with Article 69-B of the Federal Tax Code.
• In addition, the joint liability of customs brokers for foreign trade transactions in which they participate is increased. The current limitations and exclusions are eliminated, and full joint liability is established, without exclusions, for all foreign trade transactions in which they participate.
• New grounds for suspension and cancellation of customs broker and agency licenses have been added.
• It is proposed to create the Customs Council as a collegiate body chaired by the Ministry of Finance (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público or SHCP) – with the participation of SAT, ANAM and the Anti-Corruption and Good Government Secretariat (formerly the Public Service Secretariat) – responsible for issuing rulings on the granting, renewal, suspension, cancellation or extinction of customs agent licenses, in order to protect these processes against corruption and malpractice.
• Considering new policies for facilitating and specializing in customs operations, the authority is empowered to issue customs broker licenses with limited scope. That is, specialized customs licenses are created that enable the agent to operate only to clear certain goods determined by specific tariff item. Under this scheme, the SHCP may grant patents limited to specific sectors or products, allowing the operation of customs brokers focused on specialized areas.

Simplified Dispatch of Messages and Parcels

• In response to the rise of e-commerce, the bill modifies the simplified procedure for the clearance of goods for courier and parcel delivery companies.
• Authorized courier and parcel delivery companies are required to have a risk analysis system that allows them to identify compliance with customs obligations. To do so, they must provide online and live access to the customs authority. Additionally, authorized companies are required to retain documentation and information that allows them to identify the value, description, nature and origin of the goods.
• It is added that contributions will be determined in accordance with the factor published by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, which will be calculated considering the current tariff rates by tariff chapter, allowing for differentiation by sector.

Modification to Customs Procedures

• It includes new cases in which precautionary seizure of foreign merchandise is appropriate, and thus the initiation of the Administrative Procedure in Customs Matters, including the following causes for this purpose:
  • failure to comply with the Mexican Official Standards for commercial information (labeling)
  • temporarily imported goods that are not sent to registered addresses or that are not located at said addresses
• The possibility has been added for the customs authority to request additional information from interested parties, and even from third parties, in customs procedures.

Controls on the Tax Deposit Regime

• It includes the obligation that merchandise destined for the bonded warehouse regime must arrive at the general bonded warehouse within a maximum of 20 calendar days, except in cases of unforeseen circumstances or force majeure. If the merchandise does not arrive within the aforementioned period, the regime must be changed to definitive import.
• Additionally, the deadline for general warehouses to report surplus or missing merchandise in relation to what was declared in the customs declaration has been modified from 20 calendar days to 24 hours.

Strengthening the Strategic Bonded Area Regime

• The bill points to misuse of the strategic bonded warehouse regime, with cases of entry of "finished goods or goods with the essential characteristics of complete products" without undergoing any production process, resulting in tax evasion.
• To correct this situation, it is proposed to prohibit goods in such conditions from being destined for this regime, establishing this limitation explicitly in the law.
• Additionally, it is limited to individuals or those associated with them, who are authorized to manage the strategic bonded area being prohibited from sending merchandise to it.
• The customs authority is empowered to determine, via general rules, which additional goods will not be eligible for this regime, in addition to those already restricted by the Customs Law (for example, petroleum products). These measures will strengthen control in strategic bonded areas, ensuring that they are used only for legitimate productive purposes.
• The strategic bonded area must not be adjacent to the fiscal or bonded area. The transfer of goods may only be carried out by companies registered in the register of transport companies and customs clearance of goods must be carried out only by customs agents with a current registration in the register of certified companies.

Reasons for Cancellation of Registration of Certified Companies

• It is established that when the cancellation of the registration is a consequence of the commission of administrative sanctions in foreign trade matters or tax offenses, the corresponding registration cannot be accessed again.

Expanded Definition of Equivalent (Commercial) Document

• In order to combat undervaluation and unfair practices, the concept of "equivalent document" referred to in the Customs Law has been expanded to include an invoice. The bill clarifies that, in addition to the value or price paid for the goods, the commercial document must contain all information related to their sale (e.g., additional costs, terms of sale).
• This allows the customs authority, in the exercise of its verification powers, to more easily identify irregularities and reject declared values when the documentation submitted is incomplete or inconsistent.

Abandonment of Goods in Storage at Customs

• The bill proposes modifying the provisions on the abandonment of goods in customs storage to streamline the management of these goods.
• Personal service would also be permitted for consignees (recipients) of the goods, and the cases in which such personal service is not possible are specified. In such cases, the customs authority would be empowered to serve notice by public notice, which would speed up the procedure for declaring abandonment and disposing of accumulated goods.
• This change seeks to reduce the volume of abandoned goods and expedite their release, eliminating administrative burdens for the customs authority but without compromising the security or legal certainty provided to individuals.

Online Digital Tax Receipt to Cover Transportation and Transfer of Goods

• The reform establishes the obligation to use a digital tax receipt via the internet (Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet or CFDI) with a Carta Porte supplement to cover the legal stay and transfer of goods of foreign origin within the country.
• This measure strengthens customs control by allowing for the full identification of operators and the means of transport involved, thus hindering illicit practices such as smuggling. Additionally, it provides authorities with greater visibility and traceability of products entering and circulating within the country, as it incorporates key logistics data into the CFDI for real-time tracking.

Consolidated Petition

• In order to facilitate expedited clearance of goods, the bill extends the deadline for electronic transmission of consolidated customs orders.
• From now on, users will be allowed to submit the consolidated customs declaration no later than Friday of each week, avoiding the concentration of procedures on specific days. This will mitigate the risk of interruptions to customs systems due to peak demand, ensuring service continuity throughout the week.

Electronic File

• The bill strengthens the integration of the electronic records required by those importing or extracting goods from the country.
• It establishes that the digital file of each customs declaration, consolidated notice or customs document must include the information and documentation that proves the resources used in the foreign trade transaction. This includes, among other elements, related online digital tax receipts, electronic fund transfer receipts, transportation expenses, and any other document or record that demonstrates the effective execution of the foreign trade transaction.
• In this way, if the authority exercises its powers of verification, the information in the electronic file will be used to verify the veracity of the different concepts and elements declared, including the value of the goods.

Customs Guarantee Accounts

• Regarding customs escrow accounts, periodic reporting obligations are added to financial institutions that operate them. The proposal requires credit institutions or authorized brokerage firms to submit a monthly declaration with the name and federal taxpayer registration (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes or RFC) of each user of customs escrow accounts. It also extends the expiration date for customs escrow accounts from six months to one year for merchandise valued at less than the estimated price.
• Likewise, this monthly report must detail the amounts transferred to the corresponding importer's account, as well as the amounts paid to the Federal Treasury. This measure seeks to increase transparency and control over the resources managed through these escrow accounts.

Rectification of Customs Declarations

• Aimed at preventing malpractice, the reform defines the conditions for correcting customs declarations before an automated review. In certain cases, when the taxpayer detects that they have entered incorrect data in their customs declaration, they may correct it before the automated selection mechanism is activated, provided they obtain prior authorization from the customs authority.
• To make this advance correction, the interested party must fully justify to the authority the facts and circumstances that led to the error in their declaration. This facilitates the voluntary correction of errors without undermining customs controls, avoiding penalties if the taxpayer acts in good faith and with official approval prior to the inspection.

Review at Source

• The bill clarifies the scope of the origin review procedure carried out by customs authorities. Specifically, it specifies that this audit mechanism will consider not only requests that were not subject to customs inspection or verification of goods in transit, but also any type of review carried out by the tax or customs authority in accordance with the Federal Tax Code and the Customs Law.
• This clarification eliminates limiting interpretations and confirms that the authority may include in the origin review all foreign trade transactions it deems relevant under the current legal framework.

Goods Destroyed or Damaged Beyond Repair

• The proposal modifies the tax treatment of goods destroyed or damaged beyond repair under certain customs regimes. Foreign trade taxes and countervailing duties will not be levied on accidentally destroyed goods destined for the strategic bonded warehouse regime, provided the resulting waste remains under the same initial regime unless the customs authority authorizes its destruction or a change of regime.
• At the same time, any temporarily imported merchandise that suffers irreparable damage that prevents it from fulfilling its purpose and renders it unusable will be considered returned abroad, provided that the procedure established by the customs authority for such cases is followed.

Temporary Imports

• The conditions applicable to certain long-term temporary import regimes are tightened. In particular, the bill reduces the maximum stay in national territory for various temporarily imported goods from 10 to five years, including vessels used for the transport of passengers or cargo, commercial fishing vessels, recreational or sporting vessels and mobile homes belonging to permanent residents abroad.
• This reduction in the deadline is due to the detection of abuses in this regime, since in many cases these vehicles remained in Mexico operating commercially without meeting the requirements or were not returned within the established deadlines, and their return was even simulated in order to improperly obtain a new temporary import permit.
• In order not to violate the principle of non-retroactivity, it is clarified that goods already temporarily imported before the reform may remain for the remaining period originally authorized, respecting the conditions under which they obtained that permit.
• Additionally, stricter documentary controls are being implemented when temporarily imported goods change ownership or are transferred to another company during their stay in the country.
• In the event of a transfer of temporarily imported goods, all parties involved in the transaction must request, provide, and retain the information and documentation that make up the electronic record of said goods, from their initial importation until the moment of transfer. This includes records that certify the production process to which the transferred goods were subjected, providing certainty that the goods effectively complied with the production process declared prior to their transfer.

Infractions and Sanctions

• The reform expands the catalog of customs violations and increases the severity of the corresponding penalties. New violations are included to cover various acts or omissions that facilitate tax evasion or avoidance, in order to deter improper practices identified in customs operations. Various penalties are also more than doubled.
• For example, failure to properly record information in electronic transaction files, as well as improper use or abuse of the facilities granted in customs authorizations, among other violations, will be expressly sanctioned.
• Consistent with the above, it is proposed to strengthen the fines provided for in the Customs Law, adjusting some penalties upward to commensurate with the severity of the violation and the enforcement policies announced by the government. These modifications to violations and penalties seek to discourage irregular behavior and strengthen the culture of compliance in the customs sector.

Legislative Calendar and Priority Level

• The bill was officially received by the House of Representatives on Sept. 9, 2025, and referred to the Finance and Public Credit Committee for review and opinion.
• Since it originates from the Federal Executive Branch and has been identified as a core component of the 2026 Economic Package, it is considered a high priority on the legislative agenda for the 2025 fall-winter regular session.
• This is shaping up to be a decisive push by representatives from the majority party (Morena) to achieve timely approval.
• The drafting committee is expected to analyze and discuss the proposal in the weeks following its submission.
• Once the ruling is issued, the full House of Representatives could submit it to a vote before the end of the legislative year (December 2025), and then send it to the Senate of the Republic.
• Given its connection to the 2026 fiscal measures, the political intention would be to approve it during the current regular session, so that it enters into force aligned with next year's fiscal year.
• This is not a priority bill in technical terms, but in practice it is being given expedited treatment due to its strategic importance.

General Import and Export Tax Law

Executive Summary

On Sept. 9, 2025, the federal executive presented to the House of Representatives the "Draft decree amending various tariff sections of the General Import and Export Tax Law" (the Ley de los Impuestos Generales de Importación y Exportación or LIGIE Bill) specifically aimed at modifying the rate established in the current General Import and Export Tax Law¹ .

The LIGIE Bill increases tariffs on 1,371 tariff items for imported goods from countries with which Mexico does not have trade agreements, increasing the current rates of approximately 10 to 20 percent to new ranges between 35 percent and 50 percent in certain cases.

The LIGIE Bill is part of the government's strategy to boost the domestic market and align with the objectives of the National Development Plan and the Mexico 2030 Plan, conceiving tariffs not only as a revenue-raising instrument, but also as an economic policy tool to promote the country's industrialization.

Context

• The LIGIE Bill emerged in a context of redefining Mexican trade policy after decades of liberalization. According to the explanation, for years the national economy was integrated into global chains on terms that favored imports, which weakened various local productive sectors.
• Faced with this situation, this administration seeks to correct trends and strengthen the national industry by taking advantage of the international environment and the reconfiguration of global supply chains.
• The LIGIE Bill is part of the 2026 Economic Package presented by Mexico's federal executive, reflecting the high priority the government places on it within its economic agenda.
• The presidential bill is inspired by Plan Mexico and aligned with the National Development Plan, with the goal of ensuring that at least 50 percent of strategic supply for production chains comes from domestic industry.
• However, there is well-founded concern on the part of the private sector, in the context of a possible disruption in the supply chain and, consequently, the lack of competitiveness in key sectors of the economy. This should be analyzed to precisely select the goods on which these additional tariffs will be imposed.

Main Points of the Bill

• Import tariffs are proposed to be raised for 1,371 tariff classifications (approximately 16.8 percent of total classifications) corresponding to various goods. These classifications cover goods from key industrial sectors, including automotive, textiles, clothing, plastics, steel, household appliances, aluminum, toys, furniture, footwear and leather goods, paper and cardboard, motorcycles, trailers and glass, among others. Products originating in countries with which Mexico does not have trade agreements would see tariff rates increased from current levels (usually between 10 percent and 20 percent) to new rates of 10 percent, 35 percent and 50 percent, as appropriate.
• The LIGIE Bill has an additional revenue-raising emphasis. It is estimated that the tariff update would generate approximately MX$70 billion in additional tax revenue. According to the projections included, foreign trade tax revenue would increase from approximately MX$151,789.7 million (estimated for 2025) to a projected MX$254,756.8 million in 2026, and nearly 70 percent of this increase would come from the proposed tariff expansion. In this sense, tariffs are no longer conceived solely as a revenue-raising instrument and are becoming a strategic economic policy tool for industrial development.
• Imports originating from countries with which Mexico has valid free trade agreements will not be affected by these new tariffs. That is, as long as an imported product meets the origin requirements of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), it will continue to enjoy the agreed-upon preferential tariff treatment, maintaining a zero percent or reduced tariff, depending on the agreement.

Legislative Calendar and Priority Level

• Following its presentation, the LIGIE Bill was referred to legislative committees for analysis and opinion on Sept. 9, 2025. Specifically, the Board of Directors of the House of Representatives referred the bill to the Committee on Economy, Trade and Competitiveness (in charge of tariff matters).
• Since this proposal was presented as part of the federal executive's 2026 Economic Package, its discussion is a priority during the regular session period from September 2025 to December 2025.
• The inclusion of the LIGIE Bill in the 2026 Economic Package suggests that the government expects its approval in conjunction with the Revenue Law and other budget components. Legally, the House of Representatives must approve the Revenue Law by Oct. 20, 2025, so it is likely that the ruling on this LIGIE Bill will be expedited for a full vote by the end of October 2025, along with other fiscal measures. It would then be passed to the Senate of the Republic for review and eventual approval in November.

In terms of priority, this LIGIE Bill is considered high. Coming directly from the Federal Executive Branch and aligned with its strategic objectives (Plan Mexico and industrial policy), it also enjoys the support of the legislative majority (Morena).

Notes

¹ This law is still in force; it was published on June 7, 2022, in the Official Gazette of the Federation and has been subject to several subsequent amendments.

Information contained in this alert is for the general education and knowledge of our readers. It is not designed to be, and should not be used as, the sole source of information when analyzing and resolving a legal problem, and it should not be substituted for legal advice, which relies on a specific factual analysis. Moreover, the laws of each jurisdiction are different and are constantly changing. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. If you have specific questions regarding a particular fact situation, we urge you to consult the authors of this publication, your Holland & Knight representative or other competent legal counsel.