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China opposes any restrictions imposed on China under coercion or pretext, says FM over Mexico's China tariff plan reportedly to be delayed

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Nov 11, 2025 04:26 PM

Commenting on a Bloomberg report on Monday citing Mexican lawmakers and business leaders, which stated that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's plan to impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports has been delayed until at least December amid mounting opposition from Mexico's private sector and even members of the ruling party, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday that as a matter of principle, China upholds a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization and opposes unilateralism, protectionism, and discriminatory and exclusive measures in any form.

"China firmly opposes moves taken under coercion to impose restrictions on China or hurt China's legitimate rights and interests under whatever pretext," Lin said at a regular press conference. "We will firmly defend our legitimate interests in light of the developments of the situation."

Lin stated that China and Mexico are both important members of the Global South and our trade and economic cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature.

"China values its relations with Mexico. Against the current backdrop of certain country's tariff levies, it's all the more important for China and Mexico to step up communication and coordination, jointly uphold free trade and multilateralism, and promote world economic recovery and global trade development," said Lin.

The remarks came after a proposal was submitted by Sheinbaum's administration last month, which claimed to seek to "protect the Mexican industry from unfair competition." It sought to raise levies on more than 1,400 categories of products coming from countries with which Mexico has no trade agreements, said the Bloomberg report.

The import taxes would affect items such as auto parts, toys and furniture, with rates of 10 percent to 50 percent depending on the category, according to the Bloomberg report.

China in September launched a trade and investment barrier investigation into Mexico's proposed tariff hikes and other restrictive measures targeting Chinese goods. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) at that time expressed its strong opposition to Mexico's proposed tariffs and said its investigation was aimed at safeguarding the interests of Chinese industry.

"Should Mexico's unilateral tariff increases take effect, even within the WTO framework, they would harm the interests of trading partners, including China, undermine the certainty of Mexico's business environment, and erode investor confidence in Mexico," according to the MOFCOM's statement.

According to Bloomberg, Sheinbaum's China tariff plan also faced a domestic backlash. Mexican manufacturers had warned the proposed tariffs would sharply raise production costs, given their heavy dependence on Chinese imports for machinery, components, and raw materials, said the report.

Some lawmakers also stressed the need to maintain and diversify trade relationships with key partners such as China, saying that "it is not the right time to provoke a trade dispute with China."

The reported move by Mexico is somewhat pragmatic, as it has already felt the negative reaction from the domestic market. Mexico's latest episode provides a thought-provoking example for all parties, Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Mexico's proposed tariff hikes not only violate China's consistent principles but also conflict with Mexico's own commitments to the global multilateral system. If implemented, they would inevitably weaken Mexico's credibility in the international market and could provoke retaliation from China - something Mexico does not want to see, either from a reputational or a rules-based perspective.

"The two sides still need to work together, sending goodwill signals and taking substantive actions as soon as possible to revitalize market confidence and provide strong support for bilateral trade and economic cooperation and employment," Zhou said.

Mexico is China's second-largest trading partner in Latin America, and China is Mexico's second-largest export destination, official data showed.