Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a driving force behind global economic growth and development, acting as a lifeline of funding for nations around the world. Imagine a company from one corner of the globe setting up shop or acquiring a business in another – that’s FDI in action.
中国在墨西哥的外国直接投资 (FDI) 近年来显着增长，这反映了中国与全球经济格局转变和区域贸易动态的战略性协调。这一趋势使中国成为墨西哥增长最快的外国投资来源国之一，其中大部分投资流向制造业。
In February 2024, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began taking a new approach to Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) enforcement—questionnaires. Once again, the solar industry is among the first targets, vanguards among importers, hacking their way through new regulatory growth, hopefully exposing a clear way through for all who follow. Active enforcement mechanisms like questionnaires—and the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) itself—are still evolving.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has recently published a guidance document on its new website aimed at helping freight forwarders and exporters uphold compliance with U.S. export controls and regulatory requirements. The document emphasizes the significant role that freight forwarders play in securing the global supply chain and preventing the proliferation of illegal exports.
De minimis is a term that refers to a threshold below which certain goods are exempt from import duties or taxes. However, in the landscape of international trade, it has become a contentious issue for the United States. Those “bad actors”, and even some, not so bad, but willing to take advantage of a loophole have found a way around the tariffs. This so-called loophole of allowing goods with a fair retail value of $800 or less to enter the U.S. without paying an import tariff has become a monster that Customs needs to find a way to deal with conclusively.
In Mexico, a customs regime is the destination or treatment for goods subject to customs control in accordance with the nature and purposes of a customs operation. Companies with an IMMEX program may perform operations under the so-called customs regime of “temporary importation for elaboration, transformation or repair under a maquila program”. This name by itself implies several facts to consider.
Welcome to the second installment in our series on duty-saving strategies. After discussing the utilization of Foreign Trade Zones and Bonded Warehouses in our previous article, we now turn to Section 321, a topic of significant importance and, as you’ll see, considerable debate.
Since the last update on the AD / CVD aluminum extrusions investigation (dubbed Extrusions II) in what appears to be a response to strong opposition from trade industry groups, legislators, governments, and other interested parties, as well as dubious signals from the Department of Commerce, (Commerce) the Petitioners in the ongoing Aluminum Extrusions investigation have proposed modifications to the scope of the investigation.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic for the last 2-3 years for politicians, technologists, and many people in civil societies globally. The use of the technology has obvious benefits for increasing productivity and value produced by businesses and organizations, along with dangers from misuse, such as deep fake propaganda and serious security risks. Two recent efforts to develop legislation addressing AI technology offer an opportunity to compare and contrast the differing approaches in the European Union (EU) and the United States (US).
En México, un régimen aduanero es el destino o tratamiento que se da a los bienes objeto de control aduanero de conformidad con la naturaleza y propósitos de una operación aduanera. Las empresas con un programa IMMEX pueden realizar operaciones al amparo del régimen aduanero llamado “importación temporal para elaboración, transformación o reparación en programas de maquila”.
On November 19, 2025, a Decree amending, adding and repealing various legal provisions of the Mexican Customs law was published in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion (Mexican Official Gazette). This reform will enter into force on January 1, 2026. Although the Customs Law has been amended multiple times in the last 30 years, this reform is widely considered the most significant since December 15, 1995.
The development of a tequila brand begins with a foundational step: registering a trademark in Mexico, the United States, or any other intended markets. However, trademark protection is only the starting point. Building a tequila brand requires a broader business and regulatory strategy involving multiple teams—Customs and trade, finance, marketing, and legal—to plan for production, cost structures, distribution, sales, and export-related compliance.
Beginning December 9, 2025, importers in Mexico will be required to complete and submit the Electronic Value Manifest through VUCEM (Mexico’s Electronic Single Window). This measure increases the importer’s direct participation and responsibility in determining and declaring the correct customs value of imported goods.
New tariffs, changed tariffs, and reduced tariffs are announced with short notice. The duties on merchandise can change while a shipment is in the middle of the ocean. The status of free trade agreements has become uncertain. New detailed duties are assessed on steel and aluminum and their derivatives. Artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role.
The convergence of payment stablecoins, blockchain settlement infrastructure, and the regulatory clarity provided by the GENIUS Act of 2025 has created conditions for HTTP 402’s activation. The x402 protocol, developed by Coinbase in collaboration with Cloudflare and others through the x402 Foundation, operationalizes this long-reserved status code to enable instant, automated payments: particularly for autonomous AI agents conducting machine-to-machine commerce.
The Trump Administration is pursuing a new style of trade management based on use of tariffs to rectify trade deficits and to set new “reciprocal” tariff rates to level the playing field for all of its trading partners. Critical minerals are a key component of the strategy, because the U.S. is heavily dependent of foreign sources for most of the critical minerals used in modern manufacturing. In response to Trump-imposed tariffs and threats of other trade actions, China has repeatedly used export controls on rare earths and other critical minerals as leverage. This article looks at the current state of critical minerals trade actions, starting with new US agreements with multiple trading partners, then reviewing international norms and proceeding through other trade actions involving critical minerals.
On November 10, 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) delayed the effective date of its new Affiliates Rule for a one-year period, until November 9, 2026, after U.S. and China trade talks. The Affiliates Rule, announced on September 29, 2025, expands export controls under the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to extend to non-listed “affiliates” owned or controlled by listed entities (on the Entity List, the Military End User List “MEU”, or certain sanctioned parties) 50% or more in the aggregate.
On February 10, 2025, the President issued Presidential Proclamations Under Section 232 of the U.S. Code adjusting imports of steel and aluminum into the United States. These Proclamations provided an expanded listing of steel and aluminum derivative articles but also instructed the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to establish a process for including additional derivative aluminum and steel articles within the scope of the ad valorem duties.
General Motors (GM) has instructed thousands of its suppliers to phase out sourcing parts and materials from China by 2027. The exit strategy began in early 2024, with the directive gaining momentum in spring of this year, 2025. This directive is part of GM’s broader strategy to enhance supply chain resiliency and reduce exposure to geopolitical risks, particularly amid escalating, or let’s just say, continuously fluctuating, U.S.–China trade tensions.
For decades, the U.S. dollar has ruled the world. Whether a Brazilian farmer sells soybeans to China or an Indian company buys oil from the Middle East, chances are the transaction runs through greenbacks. Nearly 80 percent of global trade is still denominated in dollars—even when neither the buyer nor the seller is American.