January 31st, 2025

1. Tariff threats continue and cause reactions
After the White House, and subsequently President Donald Trump, reaffirmed that the imposition of 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada will take place as of February 1, the Mexican government stated that it is prepared for any scenario. The President of Mexico stated that there is a continuing dialogue with the U.S. government and that there is a “plan A, B and C” to act in the face of the decision taken by the government. Minister of Economy Marcelo Ebrard warned that the application of U.S. tariffs to Mexico would also directly affect 12 million U.S. families, as products from Mexico would drastically increase in cost
La Razón: ‘Tenemos plan A, B, C, para lo que decida EU’: Sheinbaum, por amagos de aranceles de Trump
2. President Sheinbaum sends energy secondary laws to Congress
President Sheinbaum sent to Congress for discussion and approval the secondary laws on energy matters, as part of her National Energy Plan, which seek to strengthen Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), as well as to reaffirm their role as public companies of the State. The changes also reaffirm the steering role of these entities in energy policy, while seeking to simplify their internal organization to make their work more efficient and increase production.
The amendments include the issuance of six new laws, among them the State Public Company Law for Pemex and CFE, the Energy Planning and Transition Law, and the Electricity and Hydrocarbons Sector Law. According to the Secretary of Energy, Luz Elena González, these laws recognize, for the first time, the concept of energy justice and create the National Energy Information System within the Ministry of Energy and an Energy Declaration Council as the supreme coordinating body.
El Economista: Sheinbaum firma leyes secundarias para que Pemex y la CFE sean empresas públicas del Estado
3. Initiative to ban genetically modified corn goes to Congress
President Claudia Sheinbaum sent to Congress an initiative to guarantee the prohibition of “transgenic” corn in the country, defined as corn that has been genetically modified or altered through the artificial introduction of one or more deoxyribonucleic acid and/or ribonucleic acid sequences from another organism of another species using recombinant technology.
The reform, which seeks to amend Articles 4 and 27 of the Mexican Constitution to guarantee the conservation and protection of native corn, prohibiting the use of transgenic crops and seeds in their production, will be discussed during the next ordinary session of Congress.
Infobae: Diputados dan trámite a reforma de Sheinbaum para prohibir maíz transgénico
4. President Sheinbaum announces initiatives and changes in transparency and anti-corruption issues
President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the creation of the National Law to Eliminate Bureaucratic Procedures and Corruption, which aims to reduce by half the number of procedures, requirements and resolution time of procedures and services, while seeking to digitize at least 80% of the procedures, so that citizens can do them via internet; also, the National Center for Public Technology will be created. In order to approve the law, a constitutional reform must first be approved to empower Congress in this matter, and at the same time, the General Law for Regulatory Improvement will be repealed.
On the other hand, after the disappearance of the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data, Raquel Buenrostro, Secretary of Anticorruption and Good Governance, announced that transparency obligations will be absorbed by a new decentralized agency, called “Transparency for the People.” On the other hand, the obligations regarding personal data will be guaranteed directly by the Secretariat.
Gobierno de México: Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum anuncia nueva Ley Nacional para Eliminar Trámites Burocráticos y Corrupción
5. Mexico’s economy shrinks in last quarter
Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product from October to December decreased 0.6%, its first drop since 2021. Despite this, the Mexican economy grew by 1.3% in 2024, according to the Timely Estimate of the National Institute of Statistics and Geographies (INEGI). This meant that Mexican growth was below the estimates of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Mexico, which predicted an expansion of at least 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively.
In the last quarter of 2024, agricultural activities fell 8.9% and secondary activities fell 1.2% at a quarterly rate. The Undersecretary of Finance, Edgar Amador Zamora, explained this contraction to climatic factors and strikes in the U.S., movements that affected downward agricultural and manufacturing activities, and added that this does not imply that the economy is in a recession or is entering one.
El País: México creció un 1,3% en 2024, pese a la caída del último trimestre