The lack of reforms in registration processes continues to be the main barrier to accessing the Mexican market for these products, an institutional backlog that calls into question the country's willingness to honor its commitments to regulatory openness. In the area of technical barriers to trade, the report highlights Mexico's adoption of European standards for railway signaling and dispatch systems, instead of North American standards, which could hinder the integration of the regional railway system. To this is added the suspension of a significant number of customs brokers and the lack of opening of new certification processes since 2023, a situation that openly contradicts the spirit of trade facilitation of the treaty. The medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals sector faces delays of 18 to 24 months in obtaining health registrations and permits from Cofepris, an agency that, according to the report, continues to operate with insufficient capacity. While a dispute resolution panel of the USMCA ruled in favor of the United States regarding the 2023 decree that restricted the use of genetically modified corn, and Mexico published a measure declaring the challenged provisions ineffective, the U.S. government warns that it will maintain close monitoring of the effective compliance of Mexico's commitments in this matter. While macroeconomic figures confirm the extraordinary relevance of bilateral trade, the existence of regulatory, institutional, and public policy frictions is reiterated, which threaten to erode the fluidity of trade exchanges and darken the prospects of the joint review process of the USMCA. The energy sector represents, perhaps, Mexico's most vulnerable flank as the review approaches. Additionally, U.S. companies report overdue payments from Pemex exceeding 2.5 billion dollars, a figure that alone reflects the depth of the crisis of confidence in the sector. In customs matters, reforms to the Customs Law have substantially increased the regulatory burden. There also persists ambiguity in the norm on good manufacturing practices for medical devices, particularly regarding the full recognition of ISO 13485 certificates and the MDSAP program for products destined for the Mexican domestic market. One of the most sensitive issues is agricultural biotechnology. The persistence of any ambiguity will undoubtedly be one of the main points of friction. Mexico remains on the Priority Watch List of the 2025 Special 301 Report, with persistent concerns about piracy, counterfeit products, weakness in the criminal enforcement of intellectual property rights, and the lack of regulation of the 2020 reforms. In services, barriers in electronic payments and telecommunications remain unresolved, while the disappearance of the IFT and its replacement by the CRT, attached to the Executive Branch, raises questions about regulatory independence and the ability to ensure conditions of effective competition. Finally, the report addresses labor and environmental concerns, including practices that the report confirms distort competition and weaken the treaty's commitments. The review process is shaping up to be an exercise in accountability in which Mexico will arrive with a file loaded with complaints for apparent non-compliance and regulatory setbacks with implications that transcend the commercial and touch the very core of North American economic integration. The report documents a structural regression of considerable proportions. Regulatory modifications to the hydrocarbons sector significantly reduce the deadlines for import and commercialization permits, and prohibit certain fuel transshipment activities, all to the detriment of private operators and for the exclusive benefit of Pemex. The constitutional reform and secondary laws consolidate the prevalence of CFE and Pemex, guaranteeing CFE at least 54% of the electricity dispatched to the grid and limiting private participation. The imposition of objective liability on customs brokers, the requirement for additional information for each import operation, and the expansion of detention and seizure powers generate an environment of operational uncertainty. The 2026 report on foreign trade barriers offers a detailed and, in many ways, worrying diagnosis of the state of bilateral trade relations.
