New foreign trade rules: what you need to know about the USMCA and the GFTR 2025

Since the USMCA provides Mexico with a competitive advantage over other countries in terms of exports to the United States, it is crucial to maximise these benefits. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct an origin analysis of exported products to confirm that they comply with the agreement’s conditions, thereby avoiding the 25% tariff.

At Forvis Mazars, we have specialists in Foreign trade and customs who analyse products to verify if they meet the rules of origin and qualify as USMCA-originating to benefit from tariff preferences. If products do not comply with origin requirements, our specialists can work with companies to design strategies—such as sourcing suppliers within the region—to ensure that exported goods qualify as originating.

FIRST Amendment to the General Foreign Trade Rules (GFTR) for 2025

On 7 April 2025, the FIRST Resolution to Modify the General Foreign Trade Rules for 2025, along with Annexes 1, 2, 19, and 22, was published in the Official Public Gazette.

A) Key Changes in the FIRST Amendment to the GFTR for 2025:

• Bank account register for foreign trade payments: A reference to the notice of amendment was added to the relevant processing form. The requirement to modify bank information within fifteen days of a change has been removed.
• Administrative Reference Updates: The General Administration of Resources and Services of the Mexican Tax Authority (SAT) has been replaced with the Administration and Finance Unit of the Mexican Customs National Agency (ANAM). Similarly, references to SAT have been replaced by ANAM in relation to refunds of considerations, trust funds, and electronic pre-validation services.
• Countervailing duties for imports via courier services: A new obligation has been introduced requiring the payment of compensatory duties for goods imported via courier and parcel companies, where applicable.
• Elimination of the USD 1,000 exemption limit: The exemption from Importer’s Registry requirements for courier and parcel shipments valued at USD 1,000 or less has been removed.
• Precautionary seizure of undeclared cash: The reference to precautionary seizure of undeclared cash amounts, based on ANAM guidelines, has been eliminated. Instead, applicable regulations will be published on the SAT Portal.
• New cancellation criteria for courier companies: The threshold for cancellation of courier and parcel company registration has been updated. Companies will now face cancellation after three instances of non-compliance within a year, instead of after the first instance.

B) Amendments to formats:

• Annex 19: The NICO (Commercial Identification Code) has been added as a field subject to fines for inaccurate, false, or omitted data.
• Annex 22: The CA (electronic padlock) identifier has been introduced at a general level in Appendix 8.
• Annexes 1 and 2: Updates have been made to contact details, complaint links, and query portals for relevant authorities. Additionally, some forms must now be submitted to ANAM, whereas they were previously handled by SAT.

The amendments will come into force on 8 April 2025, except for changes concerning the inclusion of e-commerce platform information. This includes details of intermediary services, such as trade name, country of origin, and company name in the Notice of Recurrent Operations via Simplified Procedures and the Notice to Submit a Detailed List of Requests for Simplified Procedures via Courier and Parcel Companies.

Contact us for further information.