Content was updated for accuracy and relevancy on March 29, 2021. Many companies are recognizing the substantial benefits associated with nearshoring their operations. Seen as an increasingly promising alternative to offshoring, some of the benefits of nearshoring in a nearby country like Mexico include a shorter supply chain, duty-free imports, and robust intellectual property rights (IPR) protection.  To help you understand whether nearshoring is right for you, let’s take a [...]

Updated for relevancy: October 3, 2024 The landmark United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) took effect on July 1st, 2020. Having been ratified by all three nations, the USMCA replaced the former North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which had been in effect since 1994. The transition marked a significant shift in North America’s trade policy landscape. Many have called the USMCA a new NAFTA, or NAFTA 2.0—and for good reason. Like [...]

Manufacturers of all sizes are always looking for ways to optimize efficiency. If your operation is currently based in the U.S., you know firsthand that industrial space is extraordinarily expensive.  Rather than looking for cost-cutting measures elsewhere, one of the most beneficial ways to maximize your bottom line is reconsidering where your warehouses are stationed. For businesses across the U.S., your best option is to move your manufacturing to Mexico. [...]

The global pandemic began due to the initial outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan, China. With no new deaths in the Hubei province for several days, one might assume that manufacturing in China will soon return to business-as-usual, ending the disruptions to the global supply chain that have affected companies in the U.S. and around the world.  However, to the contrary, much of China remains on lockdown. Open factories [...]

Over the last two decades, Mexico has become an attractive nearshoring destination for many American businesses. The growing popularity of establishing manufacturing operations south of the border is due much in part to the IMMEX Decree, which provided significant incentives, exemptions, and economic benefits to IMMEX-registered businesses. But how does the IMMEX program work? What are its characteristics, procedures, and requirements? Read on to learn more about the IMMEX decree.     [...]

Is your business seeking to take advantage of the maquiladora system and IMMEX program by expanding manufacturing operations into Mexico? If so, your success will depend upon your ability to cooperate with the local communities, organizations, and the government. In particular, building relationships with the labor unions—organizations that help employers create healthy work environments and who push for employee rights—is a crucial aspect of running a good maquiladora system. Below, [...]

In 2014, the Mexican Customs and Tax Authority added Annex 24 (Anexo 24) to its Mexican Tax Reform, and in 2018, further provisions were made. The statute required that businesses manufacturing in Mexico employ automatized inventory control systems as a way to track goods that had been temporarily imported duty-free under the IMMEX decree (which were meant to be assembled and then eventually exported).  So, today, if your company wishes [...]

Since the U.S., Mexico, and Canada agreed upon the new USMCA economic treaty in early 2020, NAFTA has been in the news again. USMCA, in effect, replaces the former international trade agreement, which has transformed the economies of the three countries in the past two and a half decades.  While the pros and cons of  USMCA agreement remain to be seen, at the end of the NAFTA era, it is [...]

This content was updated for accuracy and relevancy on March 26, 2021. If you travel regularly, or if you work in e-commerce or an export/import business, you have most likely encountered the phrases “Duty-Free” and “Section 321 De Minimis.” Often the terms are used offhand and interchangeably without having a clear idea of what they mean or why they were first established.  Many people are also unaware of the way [...]