Manufacturing in Mexico does not create one tariff. In this site's calculator, the stored clothing and electronics categories for Mexico are 0% when the USMCA rate is the one on the row. A refrigerator under HTS 8418, priced with no special claim, is 10%. Mexican steel is 50% Section 232. A listed passenger vehicle is 27.5%. The country page is tariffs from Mexico. The qualification test is the USMCA playbook. IEEPA duties are not being collected. This calculator does not put Mexican goods on the Canadian Section 338 annex.
The rate depends on the claim, not the truck route
Goods that are made in Mexico and meet a USMCA rule of origin can use the preferential rate. Goods that are only shipped through Mexico keep the origin of the place they were made. Routing a Chinese part across the border does not make it Mexican. The USMCA playbook has the three tests: wholly obtained, tariff shift, and regional value content.
Two results in this codebase disagree on purpose, and both are real:
- The category row for Mexican clothing and electronics is stored at 0%. That is the USMCA outcome the country tables use.
- An HTS line with no special claim still shows Column 1 plus the forced-labor layer. HTS 6109 (knitted T-shirts) from Mexico is 26.5% in the HTS engine: 16.5% Column 1 plus 10% forced-labor. The clothing page states the same split in words: 0% if the yarn-forward rule is met, 26.5% if it is not. See clothing from Mexico.
The calculator embedded on this page opens on the automobiles category, which is the Section 232 result, not the 0% electronics row. Change the category before you treat 27.5% as the rate for a fridge.
Appliances: HTS 8418
Heading 8418 (refrigerators, freezers, and heat pumps) is published at Column 1 Free in this dataset. calculateDutyFromHts then adds only the origin layer:
- Mexico: 10% forced-labor. On $10,000, duty is $1,000. The free Column 1 rate does not, by itself, zero the forced-labor layer.
- Vietnam: 12.5%. On $10,000, duty is $1,250.
- China: 37.5% (25% China Section 301 + 12.5% forced-labor). On $10,000, duty is $3,750.
A USMCA special claim can change the Mexican result. The engine figure above is the no-claim result. It is the number to budget until the origin certificate says otherwise. Formal MPF on that $10,000 ocean entry is $34.64 and HMF is $12.50, the same fee math as any other formal entry.
Apparel and the yarn-forward rule
The category rate for Mexican clothing is 0%. The clothing from Mexico page states the condition: yarn, fabric, and assembly in the USMCA region. Cut-and-sew in Mexico on Chinese or Asian fabric fails that rule, and the page puts the non-qualifying rate at 26.5%, which matches the HTS 6109 result with no special claim.
On $1,000,000 customs value, using the category rates this site already publishes:
- Qualifying Mexico: $0 duty
- Non-qualifying Mexico, or the 6109 no-claim result: 26.5% = $265,000
- Vietnam clothing category: 29% = $290,000
- China clothing category: 36.5% (16.5% + 7.5% Section 301 + 12.5% forced-labor) = $365,000
The $100,000 gap versus Vietnam and the $365,000 gap versus China are the yarn-forward savings on that million, not a promise that every Mexican garment qualifies. Document the yarn.
Autos, auto parts, and steel
USMCA does not wipe Section 232 off vehicles or metal.
Passenger vehicles, HTS 8703 except 8703.21. Mexico is 27.5% in this engine (Column 1 2.5% + heading 9903.94.01). On $20,000 that is $5,500 of duty: $500 + $5,000. Note 52(f)(2) keeps the forced-labor headings off that entry, which is why the total is 27.5% and not 37.5%. Japan, Korea, and Germany are 15% on the same heading. The UK in-quota result is 10% under heading 9903.94.31, and this calculator does not track the 100,000-vehicle quota.
Covered parts such as the automobiles category (a listed part, HTS 8708.29 in the category note) are also 27.5% from Mexico on Column 1-General: heading 9903.94.05 at +25%. A USMCA special claim is a different heading, 9903.94.06, and is not what the 27.5% figure is. The auto parts from Mexico page is that parts result.
Steel. Mexican steel in the category table is 50% Section 232. On $100,000 the duty is $50,000. The forced-labor layer is not added on top. USMCA qualification does not remove it. Wholly-steel is 50%, not 60%.
What this is not
Three programs that show up in the same searches do not change the Mexican manufacturing numbers above.
- IEEPA. Those reciprocal duties were struck down. They are not a line on a 2026 Mexican entry in this calculator. A 2025 entry that paid them is a refund question, not a current rate.
- Section 338. In this dataset that is the Canadian annex (alcohol, furniture, motorcycles, and the other listed lines). Mexican goods are not priced on that annex here.
- Section 301 China lists. A Mexican-origin good does not pay the 7.5% or 25% China list. A Chinese component that never substantially transforms in Mexico still does, because the origin did not change.
Mexico's own import tariff, the TIGIE, is a different direction of trade. The schedule and the official links are the Mexico import tariff schedule. This page is US duty on Mexican-made goods.
A manufacturing checklist
Before you price a Mexican plant against an Asian one:
- Classify the finished good. The HTS lookup is the search. Heading 8418, 6109, 8703, and 8708 are not interchangeable.
- Decide whether you will claim USMCA. If yes, the certificate and the bill of materials have to exist before the entry, not after a CBP request. Rules are in the USMCA playbook.
- If the good is a vehicle, a listed auto part, or steel, budget the Section 232 figure even when the USMCA claim is solid.
- Run the origin in the tariff calculator or on tariffs from Mexico. The category row and the HTS line can differ until a special claim is made.
- Add formal MPF (0.3464%, FY2026 floor $33.58, ceiling $651.50) and ocean HMF (0.125%) if you are comparing landed cost, not just the duty rate.
On a $10,000 refrigerator the no-claim Mexican duty is $1,000 against $3,750 from China. On a $20,000 passenger vehicle the Mexican duty is $5,500, and USMCA does not erase it. Those are the two manufacturing cases this dataset actually prices.
Key Takeaway
Mexico manufacturing is a rules-of-origin problem attached to a short list of rates this site already calculates: 0% on the stored USMCA clothing and electronics rows, 10% on HTS 8418 with no special claim, 26.5% on HTS 6109 with no special claim, 27.5% on listed Mexican passenger vehicles, and 50% on steel. Use tariffs from Mexico for the country calculator and the USMCA playbook before you treat a 0% category row as the entry you will file.
Try It: Calculate Your Duty
Same lookup as the HTS code finder. .
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