SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCÍA, NL.- The governor of Nuevo León, Samuel García, announced a 50% discount on customs duties in Colombia , as part of a strategy to attract more goods crossings and take advantage of the highway and customs infrastructure developed during his administration.
During his participation in the 32nd Mexican Foreign Trade Congress , organized by the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (Comce) , the state governor linked this incentive with the additional income that, as he explained, the state receives from the increase in foreign trade operations carried out by this customs office.
“We are going to announce a 50% discount on all Colombian customs duties,” he told business leaders, noting that the goal is to increase border crossings and boost exports, added value, and employment.
García stated that the benefit would begin on the day of his speech. However, during his address, he did not specify the fees included, the duration of the discount, or the requirements to access it.
The announcement follows an investment that the governor estimated at seven billion pesos : five billion to build the connecting road to Colombia and two billion to remodel the customs facility. He added that approximately 300 million pesos would be spent on maintenance, without specifying the frequency.
“It cost us five billion to build the road and two billion to remodel the customs building. Maintenance costs us about 300 million, to ensure it is always safe and well-maintained,” he stated.
Connectivity, according to his presentation, was one of the main limitations to taking advantage of this facility, located in the municipality of Anáhuac. Before the new access road, he explained, truckers had to travel to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and then drive approximately 40 minutes along the Ribereña highway to reach Colombia.
This detour reduced the attractiveness of the border crossing for companies that move goods from Nuevo León to the United States. Based on this argument, the governor presented the highway investment as a key element in increasing the use of the customs facility .
According to figures presented by García, in a period of approximately 10 years the facility went from fewer than 200 to 8,500 daily crossings. He also mentioned a projection of 15,000 crossings by 2030, as part of the growth potential he attributed to this foreign trade route.
The increase in operations also has a revenue-generating component for the state government. The governor maintained that the higher volume of customs activity in Nuevo León has contributed to increasing the federal funds the state receives.
“Those seven billion pesos were free for Nuevo León, because now, with that customs facility, Nuevo León receives an extra five billion pesos in revenue sharing every year,” he asserted. With that comparison, he argued that the investment in the highway and the customs facility has already been offset by the additional resources received.
Based on that, García presented the discount as an incentive to increase the volume of transactions through Colombia. He also called for strengthening the country’s infrastructure, security, and customs to attract a larger share of international trade.
The proposal presented to business leaders involves combining improved road connectivity with lower tolls for users. However, the operational scope of this benefit remains uncertain, pending further details on its implementation.
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