After years being the factory of the world, China has started to go outside and invest in other countries, visiting them and above all creating new trade partnerships and friendships. One of the areas where China has focused the most in recent years has been Latin America, with Mexico being one of the biggest trade partners of the Asian giant. The trade relations between the countries have grown by more than 270% since the 2000s.

But, the trade balance between the two countries is in favor of China, with Mexico having a trade deficit with China of USD 60 billion in 2014. Both countries export very similar things: manufactured products. And also both countries are competing to become the US number one import partner. While labor costs in China have increased in last years, they have remained the same in Mexico. Mexican manufactures are using this and the fact that for obvious reasons logistics are easier from Mexico than from China to recover the market lost to China in the previous decade.
This is why, even though Mexico and China are very good trade partners, there are still a lot of barriers between the two and a rivalry exists between the two nations.

TRADE BARRIERS MEXICO/CHINA
In order to protect its industry, Mexico has some high import tariffs against Chinese products, especially for key sectors like the steel sector or the footwear sector. Not only that, but the Mexican government is very strict with the kind of products you can import to the country and the customs agents need to check every container entering to the country.
This can be a bit troublesome for the importers, especially if you are in a hurry. Every day the container spends at the port an extra fee will be charged.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
It is very important for Mexican importers to check what products they can import to the country and what are the tariffs those products have. One way to avoid the inspection at the port of arrival is doing the inspection before the products are loaded inside the container in what is known as Container Loading Supervision. This confirms that what is being loaded into the container is in reality what it says in the packing list. Once this is confirmed in China, the report of the inspection can be sent to the custom agents in Mexico, so when the container gets to the port they already know what it has inside, so it can leave the port immediately.
In fast changing industries or when you have little time to react, this little actions will save lots of time and as we all know time is precious!
Find more information about SBE and our Container Loading Supervisions here.

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