Mexico and the European Union Sign the Modernized Global Agreement: Opportunities for Trade, Investment, and Nearshoring

The signing of the Modernized Global Agreement between Mexico and the European Union opens new opportunities for trade, investment, and supply chain integration, while raising significant tax, customs, and regulatory considerations for companies with cross-border operations.

On May 22, 2026, Mexico and the European Union signed the Modernized Global Agreement (MGA) and the Interim Trade Agreement (ITA), updating for the first time in more than two decades the framework governing their economic relationship. The new agreement expands trade disciplines, strengthens investment, and modernizes rules applicable to goods, services, digital trade, and public procurement.

One of the MGA’s central objectives is to deepen economic integration between Mexico and the European Union by expanding preferential market access and eliminating remaining trade barriers—both tariff and non-tariff. Although a large portion of bilateral trade already benefits from preferences under the existing agreement, the new framework seeks to broaden its coverage, provide greater certainty to economic operators, and facilitate compliance with applicable rules of origin and customs procedures.

1. Greater Market Access

The agreement expands preferential access for industrial and agri-food goods, strengthening supply chains between Mexico and the European Union and creating opportunities for manufacturing, exporting, and importing companies.

2. Services and Digital Trade

Modern rules for services and digital trade are incorporated, providing greater legal certainty for technology, telecommunications, financial services, logistics, and other cross-border service-based business models.

3. Public Procurement

Mexican and European companies will be able to access a greater number of government procurement procedures, expanding opportunities in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, health, and technology.

4. Investment and Regulatory Cooperation

The new framework promotes regulatory transparency, facilitates cross-border investment, and incorporates commitments on environmental, labor, anti-corruption, and ESG matters, aligned with European regulatory trends.

5. Sustainable Development and Compliance

The agreement includes commitments related to environmental protection, labor standards, sustainable development, and anti-corruption measures, aligning with the regulatory and trade trends currently being advanced by European authorities.

6. Fiscal and Foreign Trade Considerations

While the Modernized Global Agreement is primarily a trade and economic integration instrument, its implementation could generate relevant opportunities in tax, customs, and investment matters for companies operating between Mexico and the European Union. In this context, companies should evaluate, among other aspects:

• • Rules of origin and access to tariff preferences
  • Customs planning and customs valuation
  • Transfer pricing and value chain reconfiguration
  • Permanent establishment risks
  • VAT and indirect taxes associated with new logistics structures
  • Efficient structuring of investments considering treaties, domestic legislation, and government incentives

Despite the signing of these instruments, the process has not yet concluded. The agreement must undergo the corresponding approval and ratification procedures before it fully enters into force.

Over the coming months, Clark Hill will continue to monitor the progress of these processes, as well as the publication of complementary provisions and implementation guidelines that will allow companies to more precisely assess the scope of benefits and obligations arising from the new bilateral framework.

Companies with current operations or expansion plans between Mexico and Europe should begin evaluating the potential effects of the agreement on their commercial, tax, customs, and corporate structures in order to position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise as implementation progresses.

Contact Clark Hill

• Mario Barrera (mbarrera@clarkhill.com; +52 55.7100.3124)
• Kelsey Christensen (kchristensen@clarkhill.com; 202.230.9889)
• Lionel Bochurberg (lbochurberg@clarkhill.com; 619.819.2442)
• Catalina Mandujano (cmandujano@clarkhill.com; +52 55.9448.2411)
• Andrea Iturbide (aiturbide@clarkhill.com; +52 55.9448.2413)

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