Mexico’s President Calderon Tours Tijuana, Signs Decree to Eliminate Border Tariffs

When Mexican president Felipe Calderón came to Tijuana on January 20, he signed a decree initiating the first stage of the Zona Económica Fronteriza act, which will eliminate Mexican tariffs that currently make it cheaper for Mexicans to buy products such as clothing, shoes, canned foods, personal care items, wines, liquors, and electronics in the United States.

The goal is to make it more economically advantageous for Mexicans to buy everyday items in their own country. Besides preventing time from being wasted on shopping sprees to the U.S., money spent in Tijuana betters the economy there.

The elimination of the 200 tariffs was applauded by Karim Chalita Rodriguez, current president of Canaco, a business and tourism consortium. In total, some 400 items are subject to special trade tariffs. Ultimately, all the tariffs will be eliminated for the region.

Sources: Frontera, El Mexicano