By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-21 17:28:23 | Updated at 2024-10-21 23:28:43
6 hours ago
Mexico is considering tax credits to attract foreign firms to invest and produce domestically, targeted at electric vehicles (EV), semiconductors, rare earth minerals, battery and electronics sectors, a top Mexican trade official said in an interview.
The comments come as Mexico’s new government assesses how to spark more investment as companies look to move supply chains closer to their main market, while simultaneously navigating a turbulent and more protectionist period in the US ahead of presidential elections.
“We are seriously analysing creating tax credit incentive programmes very similar to those in the United States and Canada … and we believe that would allow us to attract many companies to Mexico,” deputy Foreign Trade Minister Luis Rosendo told Reuters on Friday.
Rosendo said the incentives would apply to companies from any country interested in investing in Mexico, including China.
An internal government document seen by Reuters said Mexico had started working with companies such as Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, chip maker Intel, US carmaker General Motors, logistics firm DHL, and carmaker Stellantis, to identify products that can be manufactured in Mexico instead of being imported from Asia.
Rosendo declined to give further details on the firms named in the document.
The approach towards Chinese carmakers marks a possible shift from the previous government of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with Reuters reporting in April that officials had said they would not give local incentives such as low-cost public land or tax cuts to Chinese carmakers because of pressure from the United States.
A US embassy representative in Mexico declined to comment.
