ABSTRACT
The second half of the 1980s witnessed a complete revamping of Mexico’s trade policy regime. Policy reforms included the removal of quantitative import restrictions, on intermediate and capital goods in July 1985, and on most consumer goods in December 1987. They also included a gradual reduction of tariffs to a maximum of 20 per cent and an average of 10 per cent after the late 1987 reforms, compared to an average tariff of 16.4 per cent and a maximum of 100 per cent in the early 1980s. Other policy changes were the elimination of export subsidies and the relaxation of export restrictions as well as of regulatory measures (such as domestic content requirements) previously included in industrial promotion programmes. These reforms were undertaken in the midst of harsh macroeconomic adjustments, first to the 1982 debt crisis and later to the 1986 collapse of oil prices affecting Mexico’s major export product.
