The seven suspects are allegedly part of a criminal cell operating in the region. (FGE)
Authorities in Guanajuato have arrested seven people in connection with the murder of Gisela Gaytán, the Morena party’s candidate for mayor in the city of Celaya.
Gaytán was killed on April 1, the first day of her campaign for mayor of Celaya. (Cuartoscuro)
The Guanajuato Attorney General’s Office (FGE) announced on Wednesday the “breaking up of a criminal cell” linked to the murder of Gaytán and several other crimes in the Laja-Bajío area of the state.
Four men, one woman and two adolescents were detained and are now in custody awaiting legal proceedings. The FGE said in a statement that the leader of the criminal cell, which it didn’t identify by name, was among those arrested. He was identified as Néstor Rafael “N” and is also known as “Valencia” and “El Nes.”
The other six people detained were described as sicarios — hitmen or hired assassins.
The FGE said that Guanajuato’s Specialized Homicide Investigation Unit established the involvement of those arrested in the homicide of the mayoral candidate through the use of “technological, scientific and computing tools” and “the analysis of hundreds of hours of video.”
Gaytán had visited the city’s central market hours before she was gunned down. (Facebook/Gisela Gaytán)
It said that the state Criminal Investigation Agency carried out several operations to search for “the alleged perpetrators of the murder,” adding that once they were located “the capture of the leader and those who acted as sicarios” was executed.
The FGE said that “information analysts” and “agents in the field” assisted the location of the suspects. It also noted that “expert ballistics opinions, interviews and hundreds of hours of analysis of telephone records” also informed the investigation and search for the suspects.
The FGE also said that police identified and seized “the motorcycles and the vehicle directly involved in the murder.”
It didn’t specify the other crimes the suspects allegedly committed, but said there is “information about their involvement in multiple high impact criminal events in the Laja-Bajío area,” which includes Celaya and several other municipalities where the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel is known to operate.
Gaytán – who didn’t have government protection even though she asked for it – is one of more than 30 candidates or political aspirants who have been murdered during the electoral period leading up to elections on June 2.
Which Baja California restaurants scooped a Michelin star, and where are they located?(Damiana/Michelin)
No publication can claim to have identified the world’s best restaurants if none in México are included. Thus it was only a matter of time before Michelin, the French tire company whose guidebooks are the ne plus ultra of restaurant ratings, arrived in México to award some of its coveted stars.
Animalón was awarded one Michelin star, becoming one of the first in Mexico to receive the honor. (Animalón)
Baja California, for example, is now home to three of the 16 one-star restaurants recognized by Michelin in México. Javier Plascencia, long noted as one of the nation’s top chefs, was awarded a star for Animalón, his restaurant in the renowned winemaking region Valle de Guadalupe. Conchas de Piedra and Damiana, also in Valle de Guadalupe, each received one star for the culinary mastery of chefs Drew Deckman and Esteban Lluis, respectively. Los Cabos, the popular vacation destination in Baja California Sur, received one star for Cocina de Autor, the Sidney Schutte-helmed restaurant at Tourist Corridor-based luxury resort Grand Velas.
Schutte, like Deckman, is no stranger to Michelin stars. The former helped De Librije in Zwolle, Netherlands ascend from two to three stars, then opened a second location in Amsterdam, and got it two stars. Deckman, meanwhile, earned his first Michelin star while working at Restaurant Vitus in Germany. He also pleased the palates of plenty of Cabeños (Los Cabos residents) during his time operating Deckman’s at Havana in San José del Cabo, before eventually decamping for Baja California wine country in Valle de Guadalupe. The move seems to have worked out quite well.
What are Michelin stars?
A Michelin star is considered to rank any recipient as among the best restaurants in the world. (Carmelito/Michelin)
What exactly does a Michelin star signify, you ask? According to Michelin, stars are only given to restaurants that use high-quality ingredients and consistently prepare their food to an exceptionally high standard. It’s a generic description for a very rare accomplishment. Gwendal Poullennec, Michelin’s International Director, explained it better by saying it honors restaurants that are not only among the best in their respective areas but also among the best in the world.
The Baja California peninsula, it should be noted, also scored four of the six awarded “green stars,” a category that represents restaurants with sustainable and eco-friendly practices. Acre and Flora’s Field Kitchen, beloved local members of San José del Cabo’s farm-to-table movement, each garnered a green star. So, too, did Conchas de Piedra and Deckman’s En El Mogor in Valle de Guadalupe.
Many more peninsular restaurants were recognized in the “Bib Gourmand” category, which signifies eateries that provide great value relative to pricing. Of the 42 restaurants nationwide to receive this recognition from Michelin, eight were in Baja California: Carmelita Molino y Cocina in Tijuana; La Concheria, Sabina, and Humo y Sal in Ensenada, Casa Marcelo in Valle de Ojos Negros; Merak and Villa Torél in Villa de Juárez; and La Cocina de Doña Esthela in Valle de Guadalupe. Doña Esthela can add this award to the one it received from FoodieHub in 2015 for serving “the best breakfast in the world.”
High class food for a high class region
Metate, in Cabo San Lucas, was one of 42 Bib Gourmand winners, Michelin’s junior award. (Metate)
Los Cabos, which has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive area in México, also got some “Bib Gourmand” love from Michelin. Metate, a restaurant in Cabo San Lucas, and Flora’s Field Kitchen, the already mentioned food-to-table mecca in Ánimas Bajas, just outside San José del Cabo, were also noted for serving outstanding food at reasonable prices. So also was Cocina de Campo by Agricole in El Pescadero, a small community just south of Todos Santos.
Michelin’s least prestigious prize, although still a great accomplishment, is simply to extend its imprimatur by “recommending” a restaurant. As in previous categories, many Baja California and Los Cabos-based dining spots qualified for the distinction. Los Tres Gallos, the wonderful traditional Mexican restaurant owned by Michel Zermeño and Fabiola Sánchez, with locations in Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, was recommended. Green star winner Acre was likewise singled out in this category, as were fellow San José del Cabo restaurants Lumbre, Omakai, and Ruba’s Bakery; Los Cabos Tourist Corridor standouts Arbol, Carbón Cabrón, Comal, Manta, and Nao; and Benno, Dum, Oystera, and Paradero in Todos Santos.
Recommended eateries
Restaurante Punta Morro was recommended by the guidebook, a noteworthy achievement for an outstanding eatery. (Restaurante Punta Morro)
In Baja California, Michelin recommended Misión 19, Oryx, and Tacos El Franc in Tijuana; Restaurant Amores in Tecate; Bruma Wine Garden, El Paisa, Madre, Malva, Manzanilla, Ophelia, Restaurante Punta Morro, Tacos Marco Antonio, Tacos Mi Ranchito El Fenix, and Taquería La Principal in Ensenada; Corazón D’Petra, Deckman’s en El Mogor, Envero en El Valle, Kous Kous, Latitud 32, Lunario, Olivea Farm To Table, and Primitivo in Valle de Guadalupe. Restaurante Amores was also acclaimed for its service and given Michelin’s Servicio Award for this often underappreciated aspect of the dining experience.
Alas, no restaurants on the Baja California peninsula were awarded two stars. That honor was given to only two restaurants in the country – Pujol and Quintonil – each in Mexico City. That three Michelin stars were not awarded to any Mexican restaurant is perhaps defensible, given that there are only 138 such restaurants of this quality that have been identified worldwide. However, the fact that Mexico as a country received only 18 stars in total, while cities New York and Tokyo have a combined 274, is less defensible. Michelin’s Mexican selections were all well-judged by its anonymous inspectors. But it probably needed to make many more to signify Mexico’s status as a premier international food destination … which those who live here know to be the case. UNESCO, which declared Mexico’s culinary tradition an intangible cultural heritage, did a far better job of making this point.
On the plus side, there are fewer restaurants than there should be in which it will now be almost impossible to get reservations. So thanks for that, Michelin!
Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook, and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.
Increased availability of high-quality childcare could allow more women to enter the labor force in Mexico. (Jhon David/Unsplash)
Up until recently, motherhood and moving abroad have been very idealized. But these are very complex issues with their own nuances that become even more complex when they happen at the same time. Motherhood abroad — and motherhood as an expat in Mexico — tends to be more solitary, with less help from family and friends. Even in countries where maternity leave conditions are good, immigrant mothers feel lonely because they can’t share their concerns about motherhood as they would if they were home.
The experience of motherhood away from your place of origin can lead to lots of questions, from the most practical issues — how do health care and the school system work? — to more complex ones: What does it mean that your child will grow up far from your family and your country of origin? Will she be very different from you? Will he speak your language? How will you transmit your culture?
The experience of motherhood away from home can lead to lots of questions, but help is at hand if you seek it. (Bethany Beck/Unsplash)
Raising immigrant kids in Mexico
For Ann, a mother of two living in San Miguel de Allende, “the hardest thing about it is not having extended family around. When we first moved here in 2012, my mom came too and she lived here for our first three years. And it was great, my kids could have sleepovers at grandma’s house! We were very sad when she decided to move back. My kids don’t get to see their cousins, their aunts and uncles very often, and that’s a real loss. Probably the biggest downside to all of this is missing out on having stronger relationships with their extended family.”
Sarah is from Germany and has three children between two and seven years of age. For her, some differences with her home country have been hard to deal with: “I see several cultural differences, especially related to those between men and women, that sometimes I find it hard to accept. Above all, I feel it is unfair to expect the mother to always be with her children, while if the father is there, it is seen as something extraordinary. If the mom takes care of the housework, it is her duty, and if the dad does it, he is ‘helping the mom.’ All of that seems very strange to me.”
Katie is a mother who moved to San Miguel 10 years ago with her children.“The benefit of being here of course is having my children be bilingual and bicultural,” she says. “It is just amazing.”
Among the concerns of women facing motherhood outside their country of origin, they worry that they will not be able to share the experience with family and friends in their homeland and that their children will not have a close relationship with their grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins. But culture is also an issue that causes some ambivalence. The concern that your children do not identify with your culture or share your identity, is recurrent among women who decide to become mothers in another country.
No matter how great your eventual destination, dealing with a change of cultures can be a challenge for mothers and children alike. (San Miguel Kids/Instagram)
Not one situation will be perfect. Motherhood has challenges anywhere, and new cultures have their benefits. For Sarah, Mexico is a place where “children are always welcome,” in contrast to Germany, where “it seems like nobody likes noise and kids.” On the other hand, “Germany has a lot of playgrounds everywhere. It is hard to find a playground in Mexico.”
Is there a best time to move to Mexico with children?
“My biggest advice to families considering a move like this is to come as early as possible into your kid’s lives,” Ann says. “My kids were four and six when we moved. They’re now 16 and 18. So they’ve basically grown up here and it was a pretty painless transition from my kids when they were that young.”
Language and cultural adaptation are common obstacles for expatriate women. Perhaps for this reason, in many cases, the first thing women do is to start studying the language of the place where they have arrived. This opens the doors to interact and gives you the independence to do daily business, make friends and find a job.
Ann shares that her children “both soaked up the language and the culture so easily, but it was even a bit easier for the four-year-old than the six-year-old. At that age, you’re not embarrassed about making a mistake. You just talk, and everybody learns to read at the same time. I have watched some families come with older kids and learning the language is a lot harder for them, so fitting in and making friends becomes more challenging.”
While cities might be less child friendly compared to places like Europe, Mexico has a culture built around supporting and welcoming children. (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro)
If you can, get help
Mothers tend to believe that we can do it all on our own. But being a working mom without help is very challenging. In Mexico, you can hire a nanny to help you out with children or someone to help you with domestic chores. Either way, try to make your own experience easier — no one needs a tired super-mommy.
Sarah shares her experience with this in Mexico: “What I like the most is the possibility of having a nanny to help me with the housework and to take care of my children when I can’t. I am from Germany and it is almost impossible to have a nanny there. This way I can work and exercise by myself and enjoy them and be with them instead of cooking, cleaning and washing when they are home. It gives me more freedom and more time for myself.”
Ann expands on this experience: “The economic benefits are important. It is very nice to be able to afford full-time help, private schools are more affordable, also the extracurricular lessons, so they get to try many sports, musical instruments, etc.”
Finding a school
Schools can be a perfect place for you to meet other parents who are in the same situation as you or local parents willing to show you how things are done in your new home. But finding a school that fits you and your family is not easy, even when you are in the same country that you were born in! And in Mexico, it can get especially hard if you decide to move to a small town.
San Miguel de Allende’s Academia Internacional offers quality education and a strong expat community. (Academia Internacional/Facebook)
On the other hand, Ann shares the relief she has felt about the culture at school in Mexico: “For the whole time we’ve been here I’ve never had to worry about things like school shootings. Kids my son’s age in the U.S. have all done active shooter drills to prepare for the next school shooting that could be at their school. My kids have never experienced that here.
Reflecting about the extracurriculars and sports on offer Katie shares, “I really have problems with some of the things that aren’t here in San Miguel. There’s not organized sports like in the U.S. So there’s soccer and there’s some dance classes, but not all these other things in the U.S. that aren’t here. But we feel like the benefits of having our kids be bicultural and bilingual far outweigh that.”
Mexican society can be considered a little conservative, and sometimes finding resources for children with special educational needs or LGBTQ+ children can be a challenge. If you’ve found resources, leave them in the comments!
Use technology
Keeping in touch with family and friends and connecting with other expats, especially if they are also mothers, can be very helpful. When you become a mother, you find yourself with a new vital need to surround yourself with other mothers. Especially if your mother lives far away, you will feel a desire to share, to ask questions, to talk to women who are also going through motherhood with all its ups and downs. Thanks to the Internet and social networking it is very easy to find other mothers in the country where you live, and to feel understood and accompanied.
Social media provides a lot of support, with dedicated groups for mothers looking for a community. (Asterfolio/Unsplash)
“What I miss the most is being with my parents. The support and love they give me and my children is unmatched. Here in Mexico, there are several moms from other places and there are many support and friendship groups, for which I am very grateful. But it is not the same, obviously. Maybe it has less to do with the culture I come from and the country I live in and more with the importance of my mom in my own experience of having children. But since I have children, I miss my parents more than before,” Sarah shares.
Being able to listen and feel that what you are living has been lived and is lived every day by other women will help you feel less alone. To feel part of the universal cycle of life. If where you live, you don’t find other women to share your doubts, joys or fears with, social networking groups may help you create your own circle of support.
Katie shares a little about her experience being a part of a community in WhatsApp groups for moms. “I don’t know of many support groups, which is sad because I’m a therapist, but I know that there are mom chats. I’m in a chat with more than 50 moms, and we throw back questions and get together sometimes.”
Embrace cultural diversity
The world is big and diverse, so showing your child that life does not revolve solely around what he is used to can be a game changer for his life. Ann shares, “It’s such a beautiful way to be in the world and move through it, being able to adapt to more than one culture and being comfortable. And that opens you up to be comfortable anywhere in the world. So, honestly, I think moving here and giving them that gift is the best parenting decision we ever made.”
Camila Sánchez Bolaño is a journalist, feminist, bookseller, lecturer, and cultural promoter and is Editor in Chief of Newsweek en Español magazine.
Foreign investment in Mexico in the first quarter of 2024 was double what it was in the same period of 2019 — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's first full year in office, (Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro)
Foreign investment in Mexico hit a new record high in the first quarter of 2024, with Mexico FDI increasing 9% annually to exceed US $20.3 billion, according to preliminary data.
The Economy Ministry (SE) reported Tuesday that FDI in Mexico was $20.313 billion between January and March, an increase of almost $1.7 billion compared to the same period of last year.
This chart shows foreign direct investment in Mexico for each year’s first quarter since 2006. (Economy Ministry)
Foreign investment in Mexico in the first quarter was double that received in the same period of 2019 — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s first full year in office, and four times higher than the $5 billion received between January and March 2013, when Enrique Peña Nieto was beginning the first full year of his presidency.
The record-high FDI result comes at a time when Mexico is aiming to capitalize on the growing nearshoring trend. The SE reported late last month that foreign companies made 93 investment announcements between Jan. 1 and April 15, and that $36.15 million in FDI for Mexico was consequently expected to flow into the country in the next two or three years.
But only 3% of the FDI Mexico received in the first quarter of the year — around $600 million — represented new foreign investment in Mexico, down from 5% in the same period of 2023. The percentage figure is well below the 13% contribution that new investment made to the total Mexico FDI last year and the 48% contribution it made in 2022.
The SE said that 97% of Mexico FDI between January and March — a total of $19.6 billion — was reinvestment of profits by foreign companies and investors that already had a presence in the country.
Loans and payments between companies of the same corporate group contributed around $100 million to the Mexico FDI total, a figure equivalent to less than 0.5% of the total.
The second biggest contributor nation to Mexico FDI in 2024’s first quarter was Germany, at sites like this BMW plant in San Luis Potosí. (BMW Group)
While the federal government would no doubt be disappointed that the new investment portion of FDI wasn’t higher amid what has been described as a nearshoring “boom” in Mexico, it chose to focus on the positives.
“As the result of the country’s economic stability and the good business environment, the reinvestment of profits reached a new record high for a second consecutive year,” the SE said in a statement, adding that “this reconfirms foreign investors’ confidence in the country.”
For his part, López Obrador highlighted the “historic record” in the “arrival of foreign investment” in Mexico in the first quarter and remarked that the capital represents jobs, income and “well-being” for Mexican workers.
“There is no economic stagnation,” he told reporters at his Wednesday morning press conference. “There continues to be progress with justice in our country.”
Which countries made the biggest Mexico investments?
The SE reported that 52% of the Mexico FDI total — $10.61 billion — came from United States companies and investors.
The next biggest foreign investors, according to their country of origin, were:
Germany, $1.74 billion, or 9% of the FDI total.
Canada, $1.7 billion, or 8% of the total.
Japan, $1.43 billion, or 7% of the total.
Argentina, $840 million, or 4% of the total.
Switzerland, $764 million, or 4% of the total.
South Korea, $641 million, or 3% of the total.
Netherlands, $530 million, or 3% of the total.
Spain, $351 million, or 2% of the total.
Brazil, $164 million, or 1% of the total.
Over 90% of the Mexico FDI total in the first quarter of the year came from companies and investors based in the 10 countries listed above.
Which states in Mexico saw the most investment?
Mexico City was easily the largest recipient of FDI among the country’s 32 federal entities.
Just over $12 billion — or 59% of the Mexico FDI total — was invested in the capital, where numerous foreign companies have offices. An infographic published by the SE showed that Banamex (part of the U.S. company Citi), J.P. Morgan and Coca-Cola were among the companies that invested in Mexico City between January and March.
Mexico City was the federal entity in Mexico with the most investment by foreign companies so far in 2024. The U.S. financial institution Citi, which owns Mexico’s Banamex, was one of those companies. (Shutterstock)
The next biggest recipients of FDI in the first quarter of the year were:
Nuevo León, $1.35 billion, or 7% of the total.
Baja California, $1.08 billion, or 5% of the total.
Veracruz, $685 million, or 3% of the total.
Chihuahua, $683 million, or 3% of the total.
México state, $675 million, or 3% of the total.
San Luis Potosí, $664 million, or 3% of the total.
Guanajuato, $597 million, or 3% of the total.
Jalisco, $593 million, or 3% of the total.
Querétaro, $489 million, or 2% of the total.
Over 90% of the Mexico FDI total for the first quarter of the year went to the 10 states listed above.
Sectors with the most outside investment
Just over $8.5 billion, or 42% of the total of first-quarter Mexico FDI, went to the manufacturing industry. The transport equipment industry (which includes Mexico’s large auto sector), the beverages and tobacco industry, the food industry and the chemicals industry were among the top recipients of manufacturing FDI, the SE said.
After manufacturing, the largest recipients of FDI by sector in the first quarter of the year were:
Financial services, $5.15 billion, or 25% of the total.
Mining, $2.37 billion, or 12% of the total.
Transport, $1.27 billion, or 6% of the total.
Wholesale, $1.04 billion, or 5% of the total.
Retail, $598 million, or 3% of the total.
Temporary accommodation, $329 million, or 2% of the total.
President Lopez Obrador announced a 10% pay hike for teachers in Mexico, Wednesday, saying it's as much as Mexico can afford to give teachers right now. One teachers' union said today that it wasn't enough. (Rashide Frias/Cuartoscuro)
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador commemorated National Teachers’ Day at his morning press conference Wednesday by confirming a 10% pay hike for teachers in Mexico just hours before he was to host the National Educational Workers Union (SNTE), the country’s largest teachers’ union, at a luncheon.
However, the announced pay increase did not please members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), a breakaway faction of the SNTE that formed its own union for teachers. The CNTE announced Wednesday that its members would begin a strike in the states of Oaxaca, Michoacán, Guerrero and Chiapas.
CNTE teachers’ union members, seen here marching Wednesday in Oaxaca city, are demanding a much higher pay hike for teachers in Mexico than President López Obrador announced on Wednesday. Leaders are scheduled to meet with the president at the National Palace on Thursday. (Tomás Acosta Ordaz/Cuartoscuro)
The CNTE estimates that this will result in roughly 40,000 schools being closed, impacting more than 1.3 million of Mexico’s schoolchildren.
The union is also trying to organize school closings in Mexico City.
López Obrador will meet officially with CNTE leaders at the National Palace on Thursday to negotiate higher pay hikes for teachers and other terms. The president is expected to make a counteroffer that same day.
“As we all know, today is a special day, Teachers Day,” the president said Wednesday morning at his press conference “We all fondly remember our professors, our mentors, and today at noon we’re going to share lunch with all the teachers during a special ceremony in their honor.”
“I wanted to take the time now to reveal the annual salary increase, which will be a 10% increase. [At the ceremony], I will announce a few other advances in the field of education as well as additional benefits for teachers, but I wanted to pass along the news about the pay raise this morning so that the teachers hear about it as early as possible.”
López Obrador also shared with reporters the message he planned to read at the luncheon, which included a comparison of teachers’ salaries during his term and those of his two predecessors.
Integrantes de la #CNTE marchan al Zócalo capitalino, donde instalarán un plantón indefinido ante el incumplimiento de sus demandas laborales, “el tiempo que estemos fuera de las aulas ya no depende de nosotros, sino de este gobierno”, aseguran. https://t.co/RqDxncmVxu… pic.twitter.com/kSGer6SUvd
Members of the CNTE teachers’ union in Mexico City marched to the historic Zócalo square on Wednesday, National Teachers’ Day. The union also announced a strike in four states.
“At the end of Calderón’s term [in 2012], a grade-school teacher was earning 9,580 pesos a month. At the end of Peña Nieto’s term [in 2018], a grade-school teacher was earning 11,952 pesos a month. Now, that same grade-school teacher will be receiving 17,635 pesos per month, a 47.5% increase,” he said.
In US dollar terms, those figures — adjusted by dollar-peso exchange rates by year — are US $684 per month in 2012, $716 per month in 2018, and $1,037 per month with the new salary increase. The president told reporters that teachers in bilingual Indigenous education settings will now earn 16,778 pesos, up from 5,994 in 2018.
“We have increased teachers’ wages and benefits to the limit of our possibilities … adding 175 billion pesos [US $10.5 million] to our budget,” he said. Just a year ago, López Obrador granted an 8.2% pay rise to teachers, increasing the budget by 42 billion pesos, or US $2.5 million.
During their meeting with López Obrador on Thursday, the CNTE will formally present their grievances and demands.
The United States government on Tuesday announced plans to increase tariffs on a range of Chinese products across several “strategic sectors,” including electric vehicles (EVs), steel and aluminum, semiconductors and solar cells.
Will the United States impose additional measures targeting products made in Mexico by Chinese companies or goods shipped from China to the U.S. via Mexico?
“Stay tuned” was the message United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai conveyed to reporters on Tuesday.
Ambassador Tai attended a White House press briefing after United States President Joe Biden directed her to increase tariffs on US $18 billion of imports from China (see below).
As soon as the floor opened to questions, a reporter noted that major Chinese EV company BYD is planning to establish a manufacturing presence in Mexico, and asserted that the cars it makes south of the border “could flood the U.S. market” — even though the automaker itself says it has no intention of exporting to the United States.
“Why isn’t the administration preemptively announcing tariffs to hit these vehicles?” the reporter asked.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai discussed the new tariffs on a CNBC news segment on Tuesday. (Screen capture from USTR/X)
After expressing concern about BYD’s presence in Mexico – “at USTR, that is exactly what we are built to worry about” – Tai said that measures aimed at made-in-Mexico Chinese EVs, or other products made here by Chinese companies, “will require a separate pathway.”
“This is about imports from China. What you’re talking about would be imports from Mexico. Equally important — something that we were talking to our industry, our workers, and our partners about. And I would just ask you to stay tuned,” she said.
Later in the briefing, the trade representative was asked whether her “stay tuned” remark could be interpreted as her saying that “there could be some changes” to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) rules, which are up for review in 2026, or “to the law that would allow the U.S. to apply tariffs on goods from China that originate in Mexico or other third countries?”
“What I’m saying is the fact pattern that’s developing is one that is of serious concern to us and that, at USTR, we are looking at all of our tools to see how we can address the problem,” Tai responded.
The USTR, as the trade representative’s office is known, subsequently said that it could take several actions other than tariffs to stop China using Mexico as a workaround.
According to an Associated Press report, the office noted that there are provisions within the USMCA to “address unfair subsidies and efforts to avoid import duties.”
Donald Trump, who could be back in the White House in less than eight months, apparently favors tariffs. He said in March that he would impose a 100% tariff on cars manufactured in Mexico by Chinese companies if he wins the upcoming United States presidential election.
How will the new tariffs announced by the United States affect Mexico?
Before considering the question above, let’s take a closer look at the tariffs announced by the U.S. government. The largest tariff increase is that for EVs made in China, with duties set to increase from 25% to 100% this year.
Tai said on Tuesday that “after thorough review of the statutory report on Section 301 tariffs, and having considered my advice, President Biden is directing me to take further action to encourage the elimination of the People’s Republic of China’s unfair technology transfer-related policies and practices that continue to burden U.S. commerce and harm American workers and businesses.”
The U.S. increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100% on Tuesday, and implied new tariffs could also be applied in the future to Chinese EVs made in Mexico.(Shutterstock)
“… While the [current] tariffs have been effective in encouraging the PRC to take some steps to address the issues identified in the Section 301 investigation, further action is required. In light of President Biden’s direction, I will be proposing modifications to the China tariffs under Section 301 to confront the PRC’s unfair policies and practices,” she added.
In a statement, the USTR said that “Ambassador Tai will propose the following modifications in strategic sectors:”
Battery parts (non-lithium-ion batteries): Increase rate to 25% in 2024.
Electric vehicles: Increase rate to 100% in 2024.
Face masks: Increase rate to 25% in 2024.
Lithium-ion electrical vehicle batteries: Increase rate to 25% in 2024.
Lithium-ion non-electrical vehicle batteries: Increase rate to 25% in 2026.
Medical gloves: Increase rate to 25% in 2026.
Natural graphite: Increase rate to 25% in 2026.
Other critical minerals: Increase rate to 25% in 2024.
Permanent magnets: Increase rate to 25% in 2026.
Semiconductors: Increase rate to 50% in 2025.
Ship to shore cranes: Increase rate to 25% in 2024.
Solar cells: Increase rate to 50% in 2024.
Steel and aluminum products: Increase rate to 25% in 2024.
Syringes and needles: Increase rate to 50% in 2024.
Those increased tariffs will provide Mexico with the opportunity to further increase its exports to the United States, according to Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at the Mexican bank Banco Base.
“The stronger the trade war between the United States and China, the more potential Mexico has to export to the U.S. market,” she told the El Economista newspaper.
Mexico has also already dethroned China as the top exporter of goods to the United States, sending products worth more than US $475 billion to the U.S. last year. Tariffs imposed on China by the Trump administration and maintained by the Biden administration are seen as the main factor that allowed Mexico to dislodge China from the top spot.
AMLO and Biden at the APEC summit in San Francisco in November, where both leaders also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Cuartoscuro)
El Economista acknowledged that the new tariffs announced by the United States on Tuesday are primarily designed to benefit companies in the U.S.
However, “countries like Mexico could obtain secondary gains,” the newspaper said before noting that that the United States’ North American trade partners will benefit from a stronger industrial sector in the U.S. due to the integration of supply chains in the region.
One of the sectors in which Mexico and the United States are seeking to increase integration is semiconductors. United States authorities said in March that the U.S. would partner with Mexico in a new semiconductor initiative whose ultimate aim is to strengthen and grow the Mexican semiconductor industry.
Siller noted that Mexico is well placed to benefit from the increased U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods due to its proximity to the United States and because of the USMCA, which allows most Mexican exports to enter the U.S. market duty-free.
But — as Tai indicated — goods made in Mexico by Chinese companies may not enjoy tariff-free status in the U.S. market at some point in the not-too-distant future. Such a scenario would appear to be of significant concern to Chinese companies that have established a manufacturing presence in Mexico to circumvent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
Mexico gives China “a back door” into the United States because, along with the U.S. and Canada, it is party to the USMCA, The Economist reported last year. But that door, judging by Tai’s comments, is currently swinging in the wind and could slam shut — or at least be heavily reinforced with protectionist measures — very soon.
Will the United States’ higher tariffs work? Stopping rerouting through Mexico will be key.
Following the U.S. government’s announcement of new tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, Reuters reported that “U.S. officials and trade experts say that without strong efforts to cut off transshipped or lightly processed Chinese goods from Mexico and other countries, China’s underpriced excess production will still find its way into U.S. markets.”
Eswar Prasad, trade policy professor at Cornell University and a former China director at the International Monetary Fund, told the news agency that “the new tariffs might keep out imports from China but it is likely that much of those imports could be rerouted through countries not subject to the tariffs.”
Governor Diego Sinhué Rodríguez of Guanajuato with representatives of Chinese auto parts manufacturer IKD. (Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo/X)
He said that Mexico and Vietnam have benefited from the United State-China trade war, and remarked that both countries need to avoid the “ire” of the U.S. government while they continue to seek benefits from Chinese manufacturing investment.
Mexico is thus in something of a catch-22 situation. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said that Chinese investment in welcome, but his government late last year reached an agreement with United States government to cooperate on foreign investment screening, a move that appeared to be motivated to a large degree by a desire to stop problematic Chinese investment in Mexico.
In addition, Mexico last month implemented new tariffs on hundreds of imports from countries with which it doesn’t have trade agreements – another move that appeared mainly directed at China.
The implementation of new tariffs by the Mexican government came amid growing concern in the United States about Mexico becoming a transshipment hub for Chinese goods headed to the U.S.
In a meeting with Mexico’s Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro in February, Ambassador Tai, according to a USTR statement, “stressed the urgent need for Mexico to take immediate and meaningful steps to address the ongoing surge of Mexican steel and aluminum exports to the United States and the lack of transparency regarding Mexico’s steel and aluminum imports from third countries.”
USTR Senior Advisor Cara Morrow told Reuters that the trade agency has been speaking with Mexican officials about ways to reduce the routing of Chinese steel and aluminum through Mexico to the United States.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai in a meeting with Mexico’s Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro in 2023. (Katherine Tai/X)
She said that U.S. officials have stressed to their Mexican counterparts that the aim of the USMCA is to promote North American integration and competitiveness, “not to provide a back door to China.”
For his part, William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told Reuters that attempting to block Chinese excess production “is like squeezing a balloon.”
“It shrinks in one place and pops out in another,” he said.
“Our plan is to build the facility for the Mexican market, not for the export market,” she said.
Li said that officials in Mexico had been receptive to BYD’s plans to build a factory here.
However, Mexican officials who spoke with Reuters last month said that pressure from the United States had led the Mexican government to refuse to offer incentives to Chinese EV manufacturers planning to invest in Mexico. “Welcome to the country,” Mexico appears to be saying, “but don’t expect us to do anything for you.”
As for the higher tariffs announced by the United States on Tuesday, Li said they won’t have any impact on BYD.
“We don’t have plans to go to the U.S. market, so this announcement does not impact us at all,” she said.
Chinese manufacturer BYD was the world’s top electric vehicle manufacturer as of the end of 2023. Pictured: a BYD plant in Hungary. (BYD)
“When we build a Mexican plant, we only consider the Mexican market and other countries’ markets, we have not considered the U.S.,” Li added.
Currently, very few Chinese vehicles are exported to the United States, a status quo the U.S. is clearly determined to maintain.
Reuters reported that in the first quarter of 2024 “Geely was the only Chinese automaker to export to the United States with 2,217 cars, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.”
With regard to the planned BYD plant in Mexico, Li said there is a shortlist of potential sites, but explained that “deeper dialogue” was needed before a final decision could be made.
The plant is expected to have the capacity to make 150,000 vehicles per year.
Li said that BYD hadn’t discussed incentives with the Mexican government, and didn’t disclose any incentives the company is seeking from federal or state authorities. However, she indicated that she expected that authorities in Mexico – despite what the officials told Reuters last month – will be willing to roll out the red carpet for BYD, the world’s largest EV company by sales in the final quarter of 2023.
“I think all the states will try their best to give a best offer to attract us because we will be bringing a lot of technology there and create a lot of local jobs. Every state, and even the central government, would love this kind of investment,” Li said.
Mexico City's emergency pollution restrictions have been in effect since Monday. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico City authorities declared a Phase 1 air quality emergency on Wednesday morning, restricting vehicular traffic, including taxis and cargo deliveries.
The Environmental Commission of the Megalopolis (CAMe) released a press bulletin at 3 p.m. confirming the measures will continue into Thursday for the fourth consecutive day, outlining the driving restrictions imposed when a Phase 1 air pollution emergency is declared.
During a Phase 1 emergency, automobiles with specific license plates and specific exhaust verification ratings are prohibited from driving, 50% of gas delivery trucks are kept off the road, and cargo trucks are only allowed to make deliveries between 6-10 a.m. Taxis can operate freely from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. but thereafter they must adhere to restrictions linked to their license plates and exhaust verification ratings.
Authorities also urged residents to stay indoors and to avoid outdoor activities and exercise between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. to prevent unnecessary exposure to high ozone levels. The CAMe also encouraged organizations to cancel civic, cultural and recreational activities that had been scheduled to take place outdoors.
According to the Mexico City Air Quality Monitoring System (SIMAT) a high-pressure system above the central and southern regions of the country has been creating conditions that make dispersion of pollutants difficult.
SIMAT also reported that only three of its 15 monitoring stations rated air quality in the Valley of Mexico as Good. Four others rated the air quality as Acceptable. The remaining eight rated it as Bad.
Conagua, however, is predicting that the Valley of Mexico, as well as the state of Querétaro and Morelos, could be seeing a bit of relief later on Wednesday, with intermittent rain squalls predicted thanks to humidity from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
Em is one of the 16 Mexican restaurants to receive a one-star Michelin rating in 2024. (Michelin Guide)
Finally, what food aficionados had been waiting for — the Michelin Guide has arrived in Mexico!
During a ceremony held in Mexico City on May 14, Michelin unveiled Stars for 18 restaurants across Mexico, including 2 two-star and 16 one-star ratings. The storied guide also awarded 6 Green Stars and 42 Bib Gourmands.
A ceremony for the long-awaited Michelin guide to Mexico was held in Mexico City on May 14. (X)
The restaurants in the Michelin Guide Mexico 2024 are located in Mexico City, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, Baja California, Baja California Sur and Nuevo León.
First published in France in 1900 by the Michelin tire company to incentivize motorists to use their tires, the Michelin guide has become the most famous restaurant ranking in the world — and the most coveted recognition by restaurateurs.
From taquerías to family-run restaurants and high-end dining, here are the Mexican restaurants that hold one or two Michelin Stars in 2024.
Two Michelin Stars
According to the Michelin Guide, restaurants with two Michelin Stars reflect in their expertly crafted dishes the personality and talent of the chef; with food that is inspired and refined.
Mexico City’s Quintonil is one of just two Mexican restaurants to receive two Michelin stars. (Wikimedia Commons)
Quintonil
Newton 55, Polanco, Mexico City
Located in the heart of Polanco, Quintonil stood out to Michelin for its “enticing melding of excellent local product, impressive execution and great creativity to produce refined compositions,” the guide explains.
The restaurant is named after a native herb of the state of Oaxaca.
Owned by Chef Jorge Vallejo and his wife Alejandra Flores, the tasting menu is constantly evolving. The dishes praised by the guide include crab and shards of blue corn tostada with a vivid pipián verde, and a crème fraîche sorbet with caviar and Melipona honey.
Pujol
Tennyson 133, Polanco, Mexico City
Owned by Chef Enrique Olvera, Pujol has long stood as one of Mexico’s most acclaimed restaurants.
The restaurant is mostly famous for its mole madre (mother mole) dish, which consists of two circles of sauce placed in the middle of a circular plate. The small one, at the center, is a deep orange color. The large one, which surrounds the middle one, is almost black in color and has been cooked for years. Diners are informed of the exact number of days the mole has been cooking before tasting it.
The mole madre is the star dish of Pujol’s seven-course tasting menu. For the Michelin guide, the dish represents “an effort like no other that celebrates Mexican history and cuisine in the most profound way.”
Elena Reygadas’s Rosetta in Roma Norte received one Michelin Star. (Rosetta)
One Michelin Star
The one-star distinction is awarded to restaurants where dishes are prepared to a consistently high standard with distinct flavors using top-quality ingredients, the guide explains.
Here is the complete list of restaurants with one Michelin Star in Mexico:
The accident killed eight seasonal laborers on their way to work in southern Florida on Tuesday morning. (Screenshot)
Eight Mexican migrant workers were killed and more than 40 others injured in a severe bus crash in Florida on Tuesday morning.
The workers were on their way to harvest watermelons when a 2001 Ford Ranger crossed over the centerline on a two-lane, rain-slicked country road about 130 kilometers north of Orlando, the local highway patrol said.
The pickup sideswiped a school bus headed in the opposite direction, causing it to veer off the road, after which it plowed through a fence, hit a tree and rolled over, officials noted.
The driver of the pickup, Bryan Maclean Howard, was arrested and charged with eight counts of driving under the influence/manslaughter, according to the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
In a court hearing on Wednesday, a judge denied Howard bond, appointed him a public defender and set his next court appearance for June.
Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) confirmed the nationalities of the deceased, all of whom were men holding H-2A visas for temporary or seasonal agricultural work in the United States.
Florida farms employ about 50,000 H-2A workers each year, more than any other state, according to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.
“With deep sorrow, I confirm the death of eight agricultural workers … Mexicans, men,” Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said on her X account late Tuesday night. “Seven of the 44 injured are hospitalized. Our consul [in Orlando, Florida] Juan Sabines Gutiérrez and the SRE will provide full support to our compatriots and their families.”
Local authorities reported that the bus was carrying 53 migrant workers when the collision occurred around 6:40 a.m. in Marion County, Florida. Over 30 ambulances were called to the scene, said Billy Woods, the county sheriff.
In his Wednesday morning press conference, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that 44 of the farmworkers on the bus were Mexican citizens.
The president did not release any more information out of consideration for the victims’ relatives, he said. Mexican consular officials are working with U.S. authorities to identify the victims and notify their next of kin.
No information was provided as to what substance had allegedly left Howard impaired, although Bárcena said in an interview for Milenio TV that Florida authorities told her he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
State records show he had previous arrests, accused of driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident and marijuana possession.
Cannon Farms, where the workers were headed, noted in a Facebook post that it would remain closed through Wednesday, and in another it provided a link to a GoFundMe campaign organized by the Farmworker Association of Florida to support victims of the accident and their families.
As of Wednesday morning, the fund had raised more than US $40,000.
It was not known if the bus had seat belts or if the workers were using them. On June 28, a new seat belt requirement for employer vehicles carrying H-2A farmworkers will go into effect, the Labor Department previously announced. Florida law already requires seat belts for farmworker transport, but only in vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds.
Federal statistics show vehicle crashes were the leading cause of job-related deaths among farmworkers in 2022, the latest year available. They accounted for 81 of 171 fatalities.
The natural beauty of San Luis Potosí rivals anywhere else in Mexico, with almost limitless options for stunning walks across the state. (Guido/Unsplash)
If you love hiking and the great outdoors and you happen to find yourself in the city of San Luis Potosí, you’ll have to deal with a difficult problem: deciding which gloriously beautiful natural site you ought to visit first.
This is problematic because the whole state of San Luis Potosí is famed for its breathtaking landscapes, especially when it comes to fantastic waterfalls, rivers and cliffs — not to mention surrealist sculpture gardens.
The majestic Tamul waterfall is just one of a trove of natural wonders in San Luis Potosí. (John Pint)
To assist you in making that choice, I have enlisted the help of Lori Jones, a native of San Luis who is also a highly experienced, certified tour guide.
Las Cascadas de Tamasopo: stunningly beautiful
Tamasopo offers picturesque waterfalls and tranquil forest. It is worth the 300 steps to reach the bottom of the valley – though the less hiking inclined can take a more circuitous route. (Vive Huasteca)
“Of all the places we take people,” Jones told me, “this is my very favorite. The Tamasopo falls lie at the eastern end of the state of San Luis Potosí, in the great, untamed Huasteca Wilderness.”
At Tamasopo you’ll find three stunningly beautiful waterfalls to explore and swim under, along with other small pools and rivers. The place is almost like a water park, but the falls, pools and water slides are natural. In addition, there are jumping platforms and bridges at various heights, plus ropes to swing from.
Just a few kilometers from Tamasopo there is another swimming attraction called Puente de Diós (God’s Bridge), a pool of crystal-clear water that extends into a cave.
“To get to the Puente de Diós,” Jones told me, “you have to walk down 300 steps. The problem is not going down, but climbing back up! Not everyone is in shape for doing this, so I offer an alternative, a nearby place called Cascaditas where we can stroll alongside the river, which is full of lovely little waterfalls. It’s a leisurely walk where you can stop and go into the pools and falls, and the area is relatively flat, so you don’t have to negotiate any steps. About 50 percent of the people I take there prefer this option.”
The Tamasopo area is a three-hour drive from San Luis, making for a full day’s activity.
Hike to Wirikuta, the Wixárikas’ sacred mountain
A member of the Indigenous people known as the Wikárika visits the sacred site of Wirikuta in San Luis Potosí. Here, they harvest peyote, used in rituals and in daily life. (Iván Stephens/Cuartoscuro)
This is a 15-kilometer hike from the unique old mining town of Real de Catorce to the Cerro del Quemado, also known as Wirikuta, one of the five sacred places of the Wixárika (Huichol) people. According to Wixárika cosmology, this is the place where the world was created. Today it is protected as a UNESCO Natural Sacred Area.
“This hike,” says Jones, “takes two and a half hours or three, depending on how fast you walk—because here you are hiking at an altitude of 2,700 meters (nearly 9000 feet) so most people have to walk very slowly. On top of the mountain you can see concentric circles of stone where the Wixárika do a cleansing, coming-of-age ceremony for their young men each year. This is a tough hike and you can choose to do it on your own two feet or on horseback. Personally, I do it on horseback.”
Other excursions from Real de Catorce include a hike or horseback ride to El Pueblo Fantásma. “It’s not really a ghost town,” says Jones, “but the picturesque ruins of an important silver mine. It’s at an altitude of 3000 meters, which is nearly 10,000 feet high.”
Row upriver to the Tamul Falls
A hike and a paddle upstream bring visitors to the Tamul falls. (Tripadvisor)
“The Cascada de Tamul is a four-and-a-half-hour drive from town,” says Jones, “so we start out early. We stop for breakfast at 7:00 at a place in Río Verde famed for its gorditas. So we reach the river around 11 a.m. and we paddle up to the Tamul waterfall, which is an impressive 105 meters high and 300 wide. You have to row against the current for about maybe one hour or more—It’s not so easy. Everybody helps to paddle, otherwise we can’t make it all the way to the waterfall!”
Paddling gets you to within 50 meters of the waterfall. “From there,” says Jones, “you can take pictures and swim. The other day I took some people from Poland to this place and when we arrived there we found only some Germans, nobody else. So, going on a weekday has big advantages: we practically had the place to ourselves and everyone went swimming. Then, on the way back, we stopped and walked up a mountainside to a place they call La Cueva Del Agua and here you can swim inside the cave.”
The mezcal and pulque route
A mezcal distillery in Mexquitic. (Operatour Potosina)
“For a change of pace,” Jones told me, “I suggest a special visit we organize to give people a first-hand look at how mezcal and pulque are produced. For this we head for the municipality of Mexquitic, located just a half-hour drive from San Luis.”
Mexquitic is famed for its “high-desert mezcal,” made from the salmiana agave, said to suggest “the taste of fresh green chili, vibrant grapefruit peel and agave after a rainfall.” The process for making it has been a family secret going back 200 years.
“Beside touring this venerable distillery,” said Jones, “we also visit the family of Señora Flor and we join her in collecting aguamiel, which is very sweet and good to drink. The aguamiel is then fermented to produce pulque, which is — and has been for hundreds of years — a traditional drink for the people who work in the fields, who say it gives you lots of energy. At Señora Flor’s house we have an opportunity to taste fine pulque and to discover why it is so popular.”
The Garden of Surrealist Cultures
The brainchild of an eccentric Englishman, Xilitla has to be seen to be believed. (Fernando Rocha/Unsplash)
Las Pozas, Edward James’ unique “garden” in Xilitla might not seem to fit into a list of hikes, but, says Lori Jones, “Lots of walking is required to see it, because you have to go up and down many paths and staircases, spread around 37 hectares of subtropical rainforest.”
“Note that these are not sculptures, but structures,” Jones says. “There is one called ‘the house that looks like it has five floors but only has three.’ And then there is ‘the house that looks like it has three floors but actually has five.’ San Luis Potosí is filled with fascinating places to visit, but Xilitla is in a class all its own.”
John Pint has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.
