Mexican shoe businesses can export to US tariff-free under USMCA and capture market share, but old policies and corrupt practices are holding them back.
Monterrey, Mexico – Juan Alvarado has owned a small shoe manufacturing business in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico’s shoe manufacturing capital, for more than 15 years. But the current trade and political tensions in US-Mexico relations, coupled with tariff-related disruptions, are forcing him to consider diversifying into other sectors or simply shutting down his business.
Alvarado told Al Jazeera that he would typically employ up to 25 people, but he’s had to cut that down to 15 now. “You’re against a wall and you can’t hold on either way. And it all depends on investment.”
Mexico’s tariff rate is being negotiated, after President Claudia Sheinbaum and United States President Donald Trump agreed to a 90-day extension, which is set to expire on October 31. Mexico continues to face a 25 percent tariff on cars and a 50 percent tariff on steel, aluminium, and copper, and 25 percent on anything not covered under the 2020 free trade US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
For Mexican industries like footwear, which has faced declining competitiveness against Asian countries for decades, the tariffs the US has impos
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