Customs revenue in Mexico declined in April 2026, totaling 109,879.22 million pesos (mdp) in cash flow , representing a real drop of 20.9% compared to the same month in 2025, according to data from the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM) .

In the fourth month of 2026, Value Added Tax (VAT) also showed a negative performance, falling 18.6% compared to April of the previous year to 76,514.4 million pesos, according to the  Customs Revenue and Operations Dashboard . The Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) maintained the same downward trend, totaling 14,226.9 million pesos, a year-on-year decrease of 47.1%.

Conversely, operations increased 3.3%  in April of this year compared to the same period in 2025, with 1,849,338 transactions; customs declarations showed a positive variation of 0.2%  compared to the same period last year with 903,404 documents issued.

By customs type, the figures were negative during the fourth month of 2016. Maritime customs saw a year-on-year drop of 26.6%, totaling 56,264.31 million pesos. Inland customs saw their revenue decline by 2.1% year-on-year, reaching 18,835.44 million pesos. Customs on the northern border totaled 34,522.88 million pesos, a decrease of 19.2% during the period.

Meanwhile, the country’s main customs offices reported losses in April 2026. Veracruz fell 31.6% compared to the same period in 2025, collecting 9,279.52 million pesos; Nuevo Laredo contracted 13% with 16,725.16 million pesos; and Manzanillo decreased 3.9% annually , collecting 15,960.46 million pesos.

In the cumulative figures for January-April 2026 , the numbers were also not very favorable compared to the same period in 2025. A total of 433,081.82 million pesos was collected , a real decrease of 11.6 percent. VAT fell 17.9% to 288,450.6 million pesos; and the IEPS (Special Tax on Production and Services) increased 9.7% year-on-year to 71,802.7 million pesos.

Meanwhile, operations in the first four months of 2026 showed an increase of 0.8% over the same period in 2025 with seven million 103 thousand 963 procedures; and customs declarations contracted 1.4% annually, totaling three million 487 thousand 657.

Despite negative customs revenue figures in April 2016, Mexican foreign trade continued to grow. In the fourth month of the year, exports totaled $72.042 billion, representing a 32.6% year-on-year increase and setting a new record, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) .

This increase resulted from the rise in non-oil exports, specifically manufactured goods, followed by extractive and agricultural exports.

Comment and follow us on LinkedIn:  @Humberto Cruz Moya  /  @GrupoT21

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TIJUANA, BC.- The reform to the Customs Law that came into effect in 2026 not only modified operational processes in Mexican foreign trade; it also altered the logic under which authorities, customs agents, carriers, logistics integrators and IMMEX companies – maquiladora and export manufacturing companies with a special customs regime in the country – interact .

Under a renewed regulatory environment – for importers, exporters and their logistics chain – marked by greater documentary requirements, reinforced traceability and a new approach to compliance , the participants in the panel “Customs, compliance and risks in increasingly demanding borders”, held during the ETYL Cali-Baja 2026 of Grupo T21, agreed that the logistics chain is currently facing one of its most complex moments in decades.

Moderating the discussion, Héctor Landeros, partner at HXLA Customs & Trade , argued that the major challenge lies in the new paradigm that attempts to balance trade facilitation and customs control . However, he cautioned that the authorities still don’t seem to fully understand how to achieve both objectives simultaneously. “Facilitation is an act in which I (the government), as customs, allow goods to flow while still maintaining control,” he explained, noting that risk management should be the mechanism for distinguishing compliance profiles and avoiding widespread overregulation.

This paradigm shift was evident in the operational experience of IMMEX companies. Gabriela Fernández, Trade & Logistics Manager at TACNA Services , described the radical transformation that foreign trade has undergone in the last 25 years, from improvised operations with Excel spreadsheets and radio communication, to a hyperconnected ecosystem where traceability has become a regulatory requirement . “Before, you’d say ‘bless’ to the driver and you’d never know if he’d actually crossed the border,” she recalled.

However, technological advancements have brought new obligations that, from her perspective, have significantly increased the pressure on companies. The executive pointed out that one of the most sensitive issues is the new requirement to share sensitive information related to contracts, labor costs, and production processes, something that has generated particular concern among foreign companies operating under shelter schemes . “What guarantee can you give them that all this information we’re uploading tomorrow won’t be hacked and shared with the competition?” she asked.

Fernández also warned that the regulatory impact is not uniform . While large companies have the capacity to invest in technological infrastructure, automation, and servers, small and medium-sized enterprises face real difficulties in complying. “Small businesses are praying and crying that they don’t get audited because it’s truly difficult for them to comply,” he stated, explaining that many don’t even have sufficiently structured processes to generate documents like waybills or maintain robust traceability systems.

Furthermore, the pressure no longer falls solely on importers and exporters. Jacinto Romero, general director of the Romero Galaviz Customs Agency , maintained that the new environment has transformed the customs broker into a kind of “compliance officer” obligated not only to review documentation but also to verify its authenticity and substance. “We have just been given the responsibility of verifying and confirming that all the documents the client gives us are indeed genuine,” he explained.

The problem, he added, is that the new regulations are significantly increasing the administrative and technological burden on logistics providers. He even revealed that recent regulatory changes already require photographs of offices, machinery, and products, which increases the need for information storage and data transmission in ever-shorter timeframes. “ Just -in -time is becoming increasingly difficult and increasingly expensive,” he concluded .

Romero also anticipated that the real impact is only just beginning, due to the growing capacity of authorities to cross-reference information between agencies such as Mexico’s National Customs Agency (ANAM) and the Tax Administration Service (SAT) . From his perspective, the next step will be much more aggressive and automated electronic audits 

Meanwhile, Adrián Salinas Rangel, VP of Enterprise Sales Intermodal at STG Logistics , explained that logistics integrators have been forced to strengthen internal controls and validation mechanisms to avoid errors that could lead to delays or penalties at the border. “We must always be very vigilant, stay up-to-date with the information, and share it with the client,” he stated.

For Salinas, the central problem is that digitization and automated data matching by the authorities virtually eliminate the margin for documentary inconsistencies. Incorrect information can translate into operational delays , inspections, or direct impacts on the carrier. “If I or the client fails to provide certain information, the carrier could face problems at the border crossing,” he warned.

Speaking from the trucking industry, Alfonso Esquer Millán, vice president of the Northwest region of the National Chamber of Freight Transportation (Canacar) , described a scenario where the loss of productivity is beginning to become a severe financial risk. He explained that crossing times for trucking are increasing, while operating costs remain under commercial pressure . “What we used to sell for a certain amount of money for a two-hour trip, people now want to buy for the same price in four hours or more of service,” he stated.

The transport leader was even more critical, pointing out that the new regulatory approach seems to be based on a presumption of guilt toward the private sector. “When they made the rule, they thought we were all fraudsters,” he stated, noting that fines and liabilities have grown disproportionately compared to the actual profit margins of the transport industry.

Beyond sectoral differences, the panel revealed a common concern: the speed at which new regulatory requirements are advancing contrasts sharply with the operational and technological capacity of much of the logistics chain to adapt. In this tension between control and trade facilitation , the risk is that the Mexican border will end up becoming an increasingly bureaucratic, costly, and slow space for those who do seek to comply.

Comment and follow us on LinkedIn:  @Enrique Duarte Rionda  /  @GrupoT21

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The purge underway in Mexico’s Importers Registry is sending an unsettling signal that challenges traditional risk assessments: the largest number of removals is not due to sophisticated tax evasion schemes or a frontal assault on fraudulent practices. What is actually happening is a massive purge of taxpayers who, in effect, have ceased operations in foreign trade.

The data is conclusive. When cross-referencing the database of suspended taxpayers—from the Tax Administration Service (SAT) with data as of March 9 of this year—with Rule 1.3.3 of the General Rules for Foreign Trade—which describes the 50 grounds for suspension— the most prevalent ground by a wide margin is IV , applicable to those who have not conducted foreign trade operations for more than 12 months. In other words, the registry is primarily removing inactive importers.

This interpretation changes the perspective on the phenomenon. Because, objectively, such a large number of suspensions could be interpreted as a sign of widespread decline in compliance. But the rule requires clarification: not every suspension is synonymous with risk . While cause III points to tax non-compliance—such as failure to file returns—and V or VI correspond to administrative decisions made by the taxpayer, cause IV reflects a different phenomenon: the departure of players who are no longer operating.

That’s the key. What we’re seeing isn’t just corrective action against misconduct, but a process of cleaning up a registry that contained a significant number of taxpayers with no recent activity. Rather than a crackdown on non-compliance, what we’re seeing is a purge due to operational obsolescence.

This bias becomes more evident when observing recent trends. In 2024, causal factor IV already had significant weight , although it still shared space with other causes, particularly factor III. By 2025, however, the composition changes abruptly: factor IV comes to account for practically all records. The shift is not only quantitative; it is structural. The registry ceases to reflect a mosaic of risks and becomes a record that is emptied, primarily due to inactivity.

In that context, the size of the registry helps to understand the scale of the phenomenon. As of the end of February 2026, the Importers Registry had 103,231 active registrations , while the Importers Registry for Specific Sectors totaled 37,028 registrations, according to data from the SAT (Mexican Tax Administration Service).

But the most revealing contrast emerges when the actual operation is examined. In 2025, 10,944,186 customs declarations were registered, just 4% below 2024, of which more than 8.1 million corresponded to imports , according to data from the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM) . In other words, while foreign trade maintains a high operational volume, the registry is being rapidly purged due to inactivity from some of its registered users.

This analysis is further supported by the performance of tax revenue. During 2025, income linked to foreign trade—particularly from VAT and IEPS (Special Tax on Production and Services)—maintained a positive performance, with double-digit annual real growth in several categories, led by VAT, which accounted for over 68% of total revenue . This dynamism in revenue collection confirms that, despite the purging of the Importers Registry, commercial activity is not only holding steady but also continuing to generate significant tax revenue. Essentially, trade is not slowing down; it is simply concentrating among fewer, but more active, players.

However, within this dominant trend, a different sign is beginning to emerge. In 2026—in the period from January to March alone—147 incidents were recorded related to cause IX of rule 1.3.3, a figure that already exceeds the behavior observed in previous years , where this cause did not surpass 100 annual records. This cause is activated when the tax authority is unable to locate the taxpayer at their tax domicile, or when said domicile does not meet the characteristics established in the Federal Tax Code, and may even be considered nonexistent. Although its impact is still marginal compared to the dominance of cause IV, its increase introduces a different nuance: it is not a matter of inactivity, but rather more direct signs of risk in locating and tracing the taxpayer.

The implications are significant. Interpreting these suspensions as a symptom of widespread non-compliance would lead to a misconception. In reality, a substantial portion of these suspensions correspond to companies that stopped importing, paused their operations, or failed to maintain a consistent presence in foreign trade . Under this logic, the purge reflects not only on the regulatory authority but also on the ecosystem itself: its turnover, its volatility, and, in certain segments, its fragility.

The cross-referencing by type of suspension reinforces this interpretation, according to the SAT document. Cause IV does not appear marginally or in a limited way, but rather almost entirely as TOTAL suspension . This suggests that these are not partial or corrective adjustments, but complete removals from the registry. The authority is not correcting minor deviations; it is eliminating records whose continued existence is no longer justified.

However, translating this snapshot into regulatory terms requires precision. The temptation to attribute these spikes to stricter regulations is strong, but the data alone do not support this. Cause IV was already defined in the same terms since the publication of the General Rules for Foreign Trade (RGCE) for 2025, and it remained without substantive changes in the 2026 version. Even the subsequent modifications to rule 1.3.3 did not affect this clause.

Therefore, if there was a significant change, it doesn’t appear to have stemmed from the regulation itself, but rather from its application. The shift observed from 2025 onward points more to an operational adjustment: a more intensive purging of the voter registry by the authorities, likely focused on clearing accumulated inactive records.

This nuance opens up a fundamental discussion. If the registry is being purged primarily due to inactivity, then the problem is not only one of compliance, but also of permanence . Importing into Mexico requires fiscal continuity, financial capacity, and operational discipline. In this context, prolonged inactivity is not just an administrative requirement: it can become a silent mechanism for exiting the system.

Viewed in this light, the suspended registry ceases to be merely an indicator of customs control. It also serves as a barometer of business dynamism in foreign trade. The question is no longer just how many were suspended, but how many lost the conditions—or incentives— to continue operating within the registry.

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Amid the United States’ tariff policy, Mexican exports reached a historic figure in October 2025, driven by the manufacturing industry , according to the Mexico Merchandise Trade Balance (BCMM) report, prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) .

During the tenth month of the year, the value of Mexico’s exports was 66 billion 133 million dollars (USD) , an annual increase of 14.2%, which represented the largest annual growth rate in the last 33 months; while the trade balance showed a surplus of 606 million USD, a balance that compares with the deficit of 2.4 billion USD last September.

Record exports

The increase in Mexican exports stemmed from a 16.3% rise in non-oil exports and a 29.8% decrease in oil exports. Within non-oil exports, those destined for the United States grew 17.1% year-on-year, while those destined for the rest of the world increased by 12.3%.

Exports of manufactured goods  totaled US$61.644 billion, a 17.4% year-on-year increase. The most significant increases were in exports of machinery and specialized equipment for various industries (110.9%), mining and metallurgical products (14.1%), professional and scientific equipment (13.1%), and electrical and electronic equipment and appliances (10.0%).

Meanwhile, exports of automotive products registered an annual decrease of 14%, which resulted from decreases of 14% in sales channeled to the United States and 14.1% in those directed to other markets.

In October 2025, the value of oil exports was 1.82 billion dollars, an amount made up of 1.3 billion dollars from crude oil sales and 520 million dollars from exports of other petroleum products.

Meanwhile, the value of agricultural and fishing exports was 1.384 billion dollars, an annual decrease of 19.5 percent.

In the period January-October of this year, the structure of the value of merchandise exports was as follows: manufactured goods with 91.5%, petroleum products with 3.3%, agricultural goods with 3.2%, and non-petroleum extractive products with 2 percent.

Imports are growing

The value of merchandise imports was $65.526 billion, representing an annual increase of 12.8% in October 2025.

In the reference month, imports of consumer goods totaled $9.86 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent. Imports of intermediate goods reached $50.63 billion, 15.7 percent higher than in October 2024.

Imports of capital goods  reached $5.037 billion, which represented an annual decrease of 7.4 percent.

In the period January-October 2025, the accumulated value of total imports was 550 billion 096 million USD, an amount 3.1% higher than that observed in the same period of 2024. Within it, non-oil imports increased 4.1% and oil imports decreased 7.8% at an annual rate.

In the first 10 months of 2025, the structure of the value of imports was as follows: intermediate goods, 76.9%; consumer goods, 14.6%; and capital goods, 8.5 percent.

The strong pace of Mexican exports has continued into the end of the year, marking a positive trend in shipments of national goods abroad, even with protectionist trade measures around the world, driven mainly by the United States.

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