Mexico has announced a ban on the temporary import into the country of finished footwear. The country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced the measure on August 28 and said it would take effect immediately.
Minister for the economy, Marcelo Ebrard, said an arrangement allowing companies to import shoes into Mexico tax-free for onward shipment to third countries had harmed the domestic footwear industry. He said it had become common for importers to allow shoes imported in this way to sell the goods in Mexico.
Figures that Mr Ebrard shared at the time of the announcement said that finished footwear that had come into Mexico under this arrangement in 2024 increased by 159% in volume and by 60% in value compared to the previous year.
This coincided with a fall in the volume and value of shoes produced in Mexico. The volume was down 12.5% on the previous year, while the value fell by 12.8%. The minister said Mexico’s footwear manufacturing sector lost 11,000 jobs last year.
He said an outright ban on temporary imports would help Mexico’s footwear industry to recover jobs, increase production and become more competitive. He emphasised that the ban applied only to finished products and that materials and footwear components were not part of it.
