President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa announced on Monday that his country will impose a 27 percent tariff on Mexican goods to ensure “fair treatment” of Ecuadorian producers.
“As we have demonstrated these days, the New Ecuador has always been open to trade integration, but not when there is abuse,” Noboa said in a statement on social media.
“We ratify our position to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Mexico. But, until that happens and becomes a reality, we will apply a 27 percent tariff to the products we import, with the objective of promoting our industry and that there is fair treatment to our producers,” he continued.
Noboa accompanied the announcement with a chart of Ecuador’s non-oil trade deficit with Mexico. The Ecuadorian president issued the announcement moments after Mexico conceded to President Donald Trump’s terms and agreed to send 10,000 troops to its northern border to help stop the flow of fentanyl coming into the U.S. southern border, resulting in Trump halting previously announced 25-percent tariffs to Mexico for a period of one month.
According to the Ecuadorian outlet Primicias, Ecuador’s Mexican imports amounted to $573 million between January and November 2024. Ecuadorian exports to Mexico amounted to $337 million during that same time period. Some of Ecuador’s Mexican imports include consumer goods such as medicine and vehicles, fuel, lubricants, as well as raw materials for Ecuador’s industrial and agricultural sectors.
Mexican far-left President Claudia Sheinbaum downplayed Noboa’s tariff announcement in remarks given during a press conference on Tuesday. Sheinbaum asserted that Ecuadorian imports to Mexico only amount to 0.4 percent of the country’s total.
“Yesterday I asked how much we matter. It is 0.4 [percent], and with that I can answer you,” Sheinbaum told reporters. “The shrimp from Sinaloa are tastier than those from Ecuador.”
Ecuador, during the administration of conservative former President Guillermo Lasso, held talks with Mexico to ink a Free Trade Agreement. The negotiations were reportedly “99 percent complete” but ultimately suspended in December 2022. Former Ecuadorian Foreign Trade Minister Julio José Prado explained at the time that the free trade discussions were closed due to far-left former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s refusal to include Ecuadorian shrimp and bananas in the trade deal.
Although the countries maintain trade relations, Mexico cut diplomatic relations with Ecuador in April 2024 after Ecuadorian law enforcement officials stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito and arrested former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas. Glas was convicted on bribery and corruption charges in 2017 and remained a fugitive of Ecuadorian justice.
Glas was released in 2022 by a controversial court ruling issued by Judge Emerson Curipallo, who is currently detained as part of a probe into allegations of taking bribes in exchange for favorable rulings for a local drug lord and his relatives. Glas sought refuge in the Mexican embassy in December 2023 and had requested political asylum.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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