Mexico-EU trade deal to take effect in 2026

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's new trade agreement reached with the European Union (EU) is expected to take effect in February 2026 after being signed in the coming months, said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday.

The Modernized Global Agreement, replacing the EU-Mexico Global Agreement reached in 2000, "does include tariff reductions on several products, which greatly benefits Mexico's exports to Europe, both agricultural and manufactured goods," said Sheinbaum at her daily press conference.

According to local media, the updated deal will immediately eliminate tariffs on 86 percent of Mexican agricultural goods, with another 10 percent to be phased out over seven years.

In 2024, trade between the EU and Mexico totaled more than 82 billion euros (95.6 billion U.S. dollars), making the bloc the Latin American country's third-largest trading partner, according to the European Council.