Mexico City, Q.R. — The Government of Mexico has temporarily eliminated import tariffs on more than two dozen food products. The products chosen are what are considered to be the most common foods purchased by Mexican households.
On Monday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that in order to face the highest inflation rate in more than two decades, he introduced a program that will see import tariffs removed from 26 of Mexico’s most commonly purchased food products. The only non-food item on the list was soap.
AMLO reported the temporary suspension of import fees is a way to control the rising cost of food. He says the government is also considering suspending import fees on cattle, pigs, sheep or goats, roosters and chickens.
The government program, Package Against Inflation and Scarcity, has seen the temporary removal of import fees from products that represent 11.3 percent of the National Consumer Price Index (INPC).
AMLO formally announced his plans on May 4, saying that some companies have agreed to not increase their prices on some of their food products that are part of the plan.
In April, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (Inegi), reported inflation in Mexico reached 7.68 percent, its highest level in 21 years.
