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Mexico’s long-running effort to defend its domestic manufacturing industries against cheap Chinese imports is about to take another hit.  The struggle goes back to China’s admission into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, which Mexico was highly reluctant to accept.    In return for Mexico’s vote to admit China, the two countries agreed to extend an existing Mexican program of compensatory import duties on key-sector products from the Asian giant.  Focusing largely on textiles, apparel and footwear, the duties ranged from over 100% to over 1,000% depending on the product.  The high tariffs helped stave off the inevitable for a while, but the extension was originally agreed to last only six years.  As the expiration date neared in 2007, the Mexican government heeded the frantic entreaties of the affected sectors, particularly the Guanajuato footwear industry centered around the city of León, and dived back into negotiations with the Chinese.  The result was elimination of the compensatory duties on 749 Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) product classifications, but the extension of the duties on some 200 remaining classifications.  The tariff rates on the remaining products have been reduced annually since 2008, but are still substantial, ranging approximately from 65% to 130%. Continue reading Duties on Chinese imports to drop in December →