Ecuador will apply a 27% tariff on Mexican goods to “ensure fair treatment” of Ecuadorian producers, President Daniel Noboa said on Monday.
In a post on X, Noboa said he is open to signing a free trade deal with Mexico, but “not when there is abuse,” though did not elaborate. The president said that until a free trade deal is struck, a 27% tariff will apply to goods imported from Mexico.
Ecuador imported $541 million worth of goods from Mexico in 2023, Mexican government data shows. The biggest single import was medication, representing 12.6% of the goods sold from Mexico to Ecuador that year.
Still, Ecuador is a miniscule trading partner for Mexico, accounting for less than 0.1% the value of Mexico’s exports last year, according to Mexican government data.
The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump announced a pause on his threat of 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico, after a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Last year, the two countries broke off diplomatic relations following Noboa’s order of a raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador to arrest Jorge Glas, a former Ecuadorean vice president.
Surveillance footage from the incident in April 2024 showed Ecuadorian police grappling with the Mexican mission’s top diplomat as they arrested Glas, who had been seeking asylum from Mexico when the raid took place. The ex-vice president had sought protection from embezzlement charges by requesting asylum in Mexico, saying that the accusations were politically motivated.
Noboa, the son of a banana tycoon, swept into office in late 2023 as the youngest president in Ecuador’s history on the back of a promise to rein in the rampant crime. Since then, he has embarked on an uncompromising agenda, including declaring “war” on more than 20 criminal gangs.