Import duty from Mexico to the USA is zero for most goods that qualify under the USMCA free trade agreement, and the normal Most Favored Nation rate for goods that do not. The catch is the word qualify: a product does not enter duty-free just because it shipped from Mexico. It has to meet the USMCA rules of origin, and you have to claim the preference with a valid certification. Get that right and a shipment that would owe several percent pays nothing; get it wrong and CBP can bill the duty back with interest.
Below is the exact way the Mexico to US duty picture works in 2026: when it is free, when it is not, what you file to claim it, and where importers trip up. Rates and trade-policy layers shift, so treat the specifics as a method and confirm your exact code and current policy before you file.
There is no flat Mexico duty rate
People search for "the" duty rate from Mexico and there is not one, because the rate depends on the product and on whether it qualifies for USMCA. Under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced NAFTA on July 1, 2020, roughly the same category of goods that moved duty-free under NAFTA continues to do so, provided it meets the agreement's rules of origin. Around 89 percent of imports from Mexico and Canada actually claim USMCA preference. For goods that do not qualify, the standard Most Favored Nation duty for the HTS code applies, the same rate any other country would pay. So the first question is never the country, it is the HTS code and its origin.
How a Mexican product qualifies for duty-free treatment
USMCA duty-free status is about where a good was really made, not where it was shipped from. A product generally qualifies one of three ways. It is wholly obtained or produced in the USMCA region, such as produce grown in Mexico. It meets a product-specific rule of origin, usually a required tariff shift where the non-originating inputs change HTS classification through the manufacturing done in the region. Or it meets a regional value content requirement, commonly 75 percent of value originating within the USMCA countries for many goods, with automotive rules stricter still. A phone assembled in Mexico from parts sourced entirely in Asia may or may not qualify, depending on whether that assembly produces the required tariff shift or value content. The rule is tied to the specific HTS heading, which is why the classification comes first.
What you file to claim USMCA
USMCA does not use a fixed government form the way NAFTA did. Instead you make a certification of origin that contains nine minimum data elements set out in the agreement's Annex 5-A, and that certification can appear on the commercial invoice or any other document. The importer, the exporter or the producer can certify. Whoever certifies has to hold the records that back the claim and produce them if CBP asks. Importers must keep that supporting documentation for five years, because customs can audit an origin claim at any point in that window, and a claim with no records behind it is a denied claim plus repayment and possible penalties. Pulling those data elements together cleanly is easier when you can quickly extract the line items from a commercial invoice into a spreadsheet and match each one to its origin and HTS code.
The trade-policy layer on top of USMCA
Since 12:01 a.m. Eastern on July 24, 2026, goods of Mexico that do not qualify under USMCA pay an extra 10 percent on top of their MFN rate. That is USTR's final action in its Section 301 forced-labor investigations, published in the Federal Register on July 28, 2026, which put Mexico in the 10 percent tier with Canada and replaced the temporary Section 122 surcharge that lapsed the same morning. The emergency-powers tariffs of 2025 are gone, after the Supreme Court held on February 20, 2026 that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs.
Two exemptions decide most Mexico entries. Products that qualify under USMCA are outside the 10 percent layer entirely, so a valid origin claim now saves the MFN rate plus 10 points instead of the MFN rate alone. And goods already covered by Section 232, such as steel, aluminum, copper, autos and auto parts, are outside the action too, because they carry their own duty. Everything else that misses the rules of origin pays MFN plus 10 percent, unless its subheading is in the annex exclusions for that entry date.
Classifying a Mexican supplier's catalog for USMCA
The HTS code does double duty on this lane. USMCA rules of origin are product-specific and written against the tariff classification, so the code tells you which tariff shift or regional value content test each product has to pass. Classify a product into the wrong heading and you test it against the wrong rule, claim zero duty you are not entitled to, and owe the MFN rate, the 10 percent layer and interest when CBP verifies the claim. A US brand moving production from Asia to a Mexican contract manufacturer usually has 50 to 500 SKUs to sort into qualifying and non-qualifying before the first order ships.
| Catalog | Broker review at $50 to $200 per product | TariffWise |
|---|---|---|
| 50 SKUs from one Mexican plant | $2,500 to $10,000 | Starter, $59 for the month |
| 500 SKUs moved from China to Mexico | $25,000 to $100,000 | Growth, $199 for the month, one CSV run |
| A distributor adding Mexican lines every month | Billed per product, every time | Business, $499 a month, API and 20 seats |
Each row comes back with the 10-digit code, the reasoning and the duty with and without a USMCA claim, so you can see which products need an origin file before you rely on zero. The certification and the supplier records stay your job, but they start from the right heading. Plans are on the HS code classification pricing page.
A worked example
Say you import upholstered wooden chairs made in a factory in Monterrey. First you classify them: seating of that type sits in Chapter 94. Next you test origin. If the wood and frame are Mexican and the chairs are manufactured there, they are likely wholly obtained or meet the tariff shift, so they qualify for USMCA and the base duty is zero. Now say instead the chairs are assembled in Mexico from frames and components imported from Asia. Whether they qualify now depends on whether that assembly triggers the product-specific rule for the heading. If it does not, the chairs pay the standard MFN duty for the code as if they came straight from the source country. Same factory, same product, very different duty, decided entirely by origin. Run the customs value through the import duty calculator under each scenario to see the gap in dollars.
Where importers get the Mexico lane wrong
The most common mistake is assuming shipped-from-Mexico means duty-free. It does not; unqualified goods pay full duty. The second is claiming USMCA without the records to support it, which turns a saved 5 percent into a repayment plus interest at audit. The third is a classification error, because the rule of origin is keyed to the HTS heading, so a wrong code can point you at the wrong origin rule entirely. And the fourth is treating the certification as a one-time formality rather than something you can defend for five years. Each of these is avoidable, and each starts from a correct code. Describe your product on the live classifier to pin down the heading before you test origin.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay import duty on goods from Mexico?
Not if the goods qualify for USMCA and you properly claim the preference; qualifying goods are duty-free. Goods that do not meet the USMCA rules of origin pay the standard Most Favored Nation duty for their HTS code, the same rate as goods from any other country. Whether you pay comes down to origin and the correct classification, not simply the fact the shipment came from Mexico.
What documents do I need to import from Mexico duty-free?
You need a USMCA certification of origin containing the nine minimum data elements from Annex 5-A, which can be placed on the commercial invoice or a separate document, plus the records that prove the good meets the rules of origin. The importer, exporter or producer can certify, but the certifier must keep supporting records for five years in case CBP audits the claim.
Does USMCA still require a certificate of origin form?
No. Unlike NAFTA, USMCA does not require a specific government certificate of origin form. Instead you provide a certification that includes nine minimum data elements, and it can appear on any document, including the invoice. The substance matters more than the format: the certification must identify the goods and support the origin claim, and you must be able to back it up on request.
How much is import duty from Mexico to the USA?
For USMCA-qualifying goods it is zero. For non-qualifying goods it is the standard duty for the product's HTS code plus 10 percent since July 24, 2026, unless the goods fall under Section 232 or an annex exclusion. Steel, aluminum and auto parts follow their own Section 232 rates instead.
The whole Mexico duty question resolves once you have a correct code and a clear origin story. Classify your product on the live classifier, price both the qualifying and non-qualifying cases with the import duty calculator, and if you also source from Asia, compare the numbers against our guide to import duty from China to the USA.