Mexico steps up fight against illegal steel imports

Mexico’s updated investment plan includes measures aimed at increasing domestic production, in particular steel output, in response to US tariffs. This is reported by BNamericas.

In addition, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard explained that the steel supply chain is being inspected both in the country and abroad.

Mexico requires registration to import steel products. The register requires companies to provide information about the plants from which the imported material comes. According to the minister, 1,062 out of more than 2,000 registrations have been found to have “inconsistencies or violations,” including modeling of production processes. Ebrard added that the process of canceling and deleting such registrations will begin. In this way, the government seeks to ensure that steel entering the country meets legal requirements, promoting fair trade and increasing the competitiveness of the national industry.

According to the official, the government intends to prevent importers from using fake registrations to import steel products and triangulate steel, and reduce tariff evasion.

In March of this year, the Mexican Ministry of Economy officially initiated an anti-dumping investigation into imports of hot-rolled steel from China and Vietnam. The investigation was initiated at the request of Ternium Mexico. The company claimed that imported HRC from these two countries is sold at prices below fair market value, which causes material damage to the local industry.