Investment of Chinese enterprises in Mexico / 中国企业在墨西哥的投资（概述）

In recent years, some Chinese companies have turned to Mexico as a lucrative new investment area. With the US government becoming increasingly hostile to China's direct investment in the US, the Mexican government actively seeks to deepen its economic ties with China, and publicly announces its intention to increase China's investment in Mexico and Mexico's business in China. While acknowledging its high dependence on trade with the United States, Mexico is working to diversify its business partners, and some Chinese manufacturers are seizing the opportunity to help Mexico achieve these goals. Recent economic initiatives announced by the Mexican government also indicate that opportunities for foreign investment in Mexico's energy, telecommunications, transportation and tourism will soon increase. In view of the restrictive tariff imposed by the United States on Chinese goods, Mexico can also become a strategic investment place for Chinese enterprises looking for alternative means to enter the U.S. market. In addition to sharing borders with the United States and its growing manufacturing capacity, Mexico enjoys zero tariff treatment when its goods enter the U.S. market through its participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Under the upcoming US Mexico Canada agreement, Mexican goods will continue to enjoy the right to enter the United States duty free. The agreement will replace NAFTA. Therefore, if the goods manufactured in Mexico meet certain standards stipulated in NAFTA, Chinese enterprises can bypass US tariffs.
A. Why Mexico has become an attractive target market for investment 1. According to Section 301, tariffs on Chinese imports make it more difficult to import Chinese goods directly to the United States. Section 301 of the trade act of 1974 empowers the U.S. trade representative to levy tariffs in retaliation for unfair trade practices. The trump administration has made extensive use of this power. In the past two years, the trump administration has claimed that China's actions have damaged U.S. intellectual property rights and imposed tariffs on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods exported to the United States. Because the ongoing trade negotiations between the United States and China have repeatedly reached a deadlock, there is no indication whether or when the United States will abolish these tariffs. Even if China and the United States sign the first phase of the trade agreement, unless a more comprehensive bilateral agreement is reached, the United States will not significantly reduce the tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States. Specifically, according to the first phase agreement, the United States only promised to cut tariffs on Chinese goods worth about 120 billion US dollars by 15%, that is, to 7.5%. It is worth noting that the heaviest 25% tariff will continue to be levied on Chinese goods worth 250 billion US dollars. With the implementation of these tariffs, the cost of importing Chinese products to the United States will be higher. In addition, the effectiveness of the first phase of the US China trade agreement remains to be tested. Other important trade conflicts between the two, such as technology policy, industrial subsidies, state-owned enterprise rules, have not yet been resolved. As a result, despite the signing of the first phase trade agreement between the United States and China, Chinese enterprises have so far found that there may be uncertainties and high costs in conducting trade with the United States. The United States may be hostile to imports from China indefinitely. 2. NAFTA allows Mexican made goods to enter the North American market duty-free. By investing in Mexico, Chinese enterprises can make use of the free trade rules of free trade between the United States and Mexico, and at the same time avoid the tariff of article 301 of the United States on Chinese goods. Goods produced by Chinese enterprises in Mexico can be imported into the United States duty-free in accordance with NAFTA. However, Chinese companies can't just see Mexico as a place where Chinese made goods can be transported to the United States. On the contrary, in Mexico, any product that has not undergone a "substantial transformation" cannot be regarded as a Mexican made commodity. The rule of "substantial change" means that the product must undergo fundamental changes in form, appearance, nature or characteristics, so as to increase its value substantially, so as to obtain tax-free status. As far as NAFTA is concerned, products belonging to one of the following four categories can be defined as originating in Mexico, so they can enjoy duty-free treatment when imported into the United States (or Canada): 4 a) goods are obtained or produced in the territory of one or more NAFTA parties, excluding any non originating materials;
b) The good is produced entirely in the territory of one or more parties from originating materials, which may be made from non originating materials; c) as production takes place entirely in the territory of one or more parties, each non originating material used in the production of the good is subject to a change in the tariff classification set out in Annex 401; and d) The tariff classification of goods does not change, but if the transaction value method is adopted, the regional value content of goods shall not be less than 60%; if the net cost method is adopted, the regional value content shall not be less than 50%. 3. The US Mexico Canada agreement may further stabilize Mexico's investment market. Although NAFTA is still the agreement guiding trade among the United States, Mexico and Canada, the three countries are about to ratify the U.S. - Mexico Canada agreement (the "U.S. - Mexico Canada agreement"), which updates intellectual property rights, digital trade, financial services, data storage and labor provisions. Although negotiators are still working out the details of the agreement, the US House of Representatives approved the US Mexico Canada agreement on December 19, 2020, and the US Senate is expected to pass legislation to approve the US Mexico Canada agreement in early 2020. Because the Mexican Senate has also approved the US Mexico Canada agreement, which replaces NAFTA, now only the US Senate and Canada need to approve it. Although Mexico, the United States and Canada have experienced economic uncertainties in their official negotiation of the US Mexico Canada agreement, Mexican officials are optimistic that the ratification of the trade agreement will promote a new chapter in Mexico's investment and growth, which will create a more favorable environment for China's investment in Mexico. In order to stimulate economic growth, Mexico is opening up to private investment. The opportunities available in Mexico are not limited to manufacturing. In the next few years, Chinese investors are likely to enjoy more opportunities to invest in Mexican energy and infrastructure projects. In the months after the election of Andres Manuel Lopez ovlador in 2018, the Mexican government adopted a serious left leaning approach, creating hostility to foreign investment. As president Lopez o'flador cut spending and canceled major public works projects, foreign investors began to feel cold about their investment in Mexico, while potential investors sought markets other than Mexico. As a result, Mexico's economy was hit and fell into recession in 2019.
However, in order to revitalize Mexico's backward economy, the Mexican government recently began to ease its nationalist and populist policies and actively welcome private investment. In November 2019, President Lopez o'flador announced the launch of $44 billion worth of infrastructure projects from 2020 to 2024, seeking the participation of the private sector and investing in major projects to stimulate Mexico's economic growth. 8 in 2020 alone, the program plans to launch 72 projects worth 22 billion US dollars, mainly involving tourism, transportation and telecommunications. 9 it is expected that the second round of projects will mainly focus on the energy sector. Although it remains to be seen how the plan will be implemented and how the Mexican government will seek bids for projects, the Mexican economy is likely to continue to open up to foreign and private investors in the next few years. 5. Many Chinese enterprises have achieved success in Mexico. Even under the current economic conditions in Mexico, Chinese enterprises are booming in Mexico. Taizhou Fuling Plastic Co., Ltd. is a Chinese manufacturer of plastic utensils, producing paper cups and straws for American restaurants. The trump administration's actions under Section 301 include imposing tariffs on paper products such as fulling global. In order to remain competitive in the United States, in the spring of 2019, Fuling announced plans to open a $4 million plant in Monterey, Mexico. The plant was scheduled to start production in July 2019 and ship millions of paper straws to the United States. The company now makes full use of its duty-free exports to the United States, favorable business conditions in Mexico, and lower transportation costs brought about by Mexico's favorable location. 11 as one of the world's largest TV manufacturers, Hisense of China purchased a manufacturing plant from sharp in rosalito, Mexico, in 2015. The company invested in a Mexican manufacturing plant long before the trump administration imposed the 301 tariff, targeting the U.S. consumer market. In the spring of 2016, Hisense announced that it will double its investment in Mexico to update and expand its Mexican plant, that is, Hisense will inject another $30 million to strengthen automation and increase its production capacity to 4 million units. Hisense said that wages in Mexico are roughly equivalent to those in China, but by maintaining facilities in Mexico, it takes about one month to transport products from Mexico than from China. Since the imposition of Section 301 tariff, thanks to Hisense's business decision to invest in Mexico, Hisense products made in Mexico can enter the United States without paying the tariff specified in Section 301. B. How to invest in Mexico? The Chinese government has certain regulations on foreign investment of enterprises. Chinese enterprises' overseas investment plans need to be formally approved by the national development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Commerce of the people's Republic of China (MOFCOM) and the State Administration of foreign exchange of the people's Republic of China (SAFE). Each of these government agencies has its own approval process.
1. The national development and Reform Commission divides overseas investment into "sensitive projects" and "non sensitive projects". This classification standard depends on the industry and country of overseas investment. Sponsors of sensitive projects must submit project application reports detailing investors, investment situation and impact on China's national security. Non sensitive projects do not need substantive review, only need to submit relevant documents for filing. 2. The Ministry of Commerce of China also divides investment into "sensitive" investment projects and "non sensitive" investment projects. If it is a sensitive investment project, an application covering investors and investment information must be submitted, and the application must be subject to substantive review when approval is determined. If it is a non sensitive investment project, just fill in the overseas investment record form and submit it together with the copy of the business license. 3. Foreign exchange registration is required for overseas investment by safe. According to the procedures of the safe, each bank is responsible for reviewing and managing the foreign exchange registration of specific investments; then, the safe supervises the bank's business procedures. Therefore, when applying for foreign exchange security, enterprises may find it helpful to maintain a good relationship with one or more banks and hold sufficient capital in relevant bank accounts.

近年来，一些中国公司将目光投向墨西哥，将其视为利润丰厚的投资新领域。随着美国政府对中 国直接投资美国越来越敌视，墨西哥政府积极寻求深化与中国的经济联系，并公开宣布有意增加 中国在墨西哥的投资和墨西哥在中国的业务。1 墨西哥在承认其高度依赖对美贸易的同时，正致 力于使其商业伙伴国多样化，而中国的一些制造商正是抓住了帮助墨西哥实现这些目标的机会。 墨西哥政府公布的近期经济举措也表明，在墨西哥能源、电信、交通以及旅游领域，外国投资的 机会不久将会增加。 鉴于美国对中国商品的限制性关税，对于正在寻找替代手段以进入美国市场的中国企业而言，墨 西哥也可以成为其战略投资场所。除了与美国共享边界，以及其日益增长的制造能力外，墨西哥 通过参与北美自由贸易协定（“北美自贸协定”），其商品进入美国市场时享有零关税待遇。在 即将被批准的美国-墨西哥-加拿大协定（“美墨加协定”）下，墨西哥商品将继续享受免税进入 美国的权利。该协定将取代北美自由贸易协定。因此，如果在墨西哥制造的商品符合北美自由贸 易协定所规定的一定标准，中国企业便可以绕过美国关税。

A. 墨西哥为何成为具有吸引力的投资目标市场 1. 根据 301 条款，针对中国进口商品的关税使得直接进口中国商品到美国更加困难。 1974 年《贸易法》第 301 条授权美国贸易代表征收关税，作为对不公平贸易做法的报复。2 特朗 普政府广泛运用了这一权力。在过去两年中，特朗普政府声称中国的做法损害了美国的知识产权， 并对价值 3000 多亿美元的中国输美商品征收关税。3 因为美中之间正在进行的贸易谈判一再陷 入僵局，目前还没有迹象表明美国是否会取消这些关税或何时取消。即使中国与美国签订了第一 阶段贸易协定，除非达成更全面的双边协定，否则美国不会大幅降低对中国输美商品征收的关税。 具体来说，根据第一阶段协议，美国只承诺对价值约 1200 亿美元的中国商品削减 15%的关税， 即减至 7.5%。值得注意的是，对价值 2500 亿美元的中国商品，最重的 25%关税将继续征收。 随着这些关税的实施，中国产品进口到美国的成本将更高。此外，美中贸易协定第一阶段提供的 争端解决机制的实际效力仍有待检验。二者之间的其他重要贸易冲突，如技术政策、产业补贴、 国有企业规则等仍未解决。因此，尽管美中两国签订了第一阶段贸易协定，但迄今为止，中国企 业发现，与美国进行贸易可能存在不确定性和高昂的成本。美国可能会无限期地对从中国进口的 产品持敌对态度。 2. 北美自由贸易协定允许墨西哥制造的商品免税进入北美市场。 通过在墨西哥投资，中国企业可以利用美国和墨西哥之间自由贸易的自由贸易规则，同时可能避 免美国第 301 条对中国商品的关税。中国企业在墨西哥生产的货物可以根据北美自由贸易协定 免税进口到美国。然而，中国企业不能仅仅把墨西哥作为一个可以将中国制造的商品运到美国的 地方。相反，在墨西哥，任何产品如果没有经历“实质性的转变”，就不能被认为是墨西哥制造 的商品。 “实质性的转变”规则意味着产品必须在形式、外观、性质或特征上发生根本性变化，从而使其 价值大幅度增加，以此获得免税地位。就北美自由贸易协定而言，属于下列四类之一的产品可定 义为原产墨西哥，因此在进口到美国(或加拿大)时可享受免税待遇：4 a）商品在北美自由贸易协定一方或多方领土内获得或生产，且不包括任何非原产材料；

b）该商品完全在一方或多方的领土内由原产材料生产，这些原产材料可以由非原产材料制 成； c）由于生产完全在一个或多个缔约方的领土内进行，用于生产商品的每种非原产材料都发 生了适用于附件 401 所列关税分类的变化； 以及 d）商品的关税分类不发生变化，但采用交易价值法的，货物的区域价值含量不低于 60%； 采用净成本法的，区域价值含量不低于 50%。 3. “美墨加协定”可能进一步稳定墨西哥的投资市场。 尽管北美自由贸易协定仍然是指导美国、墨西哥和加拿大之间贸易的协议，但这三个国家即将批 准美国-墨西哥-加拿大协定（“美墨加协定”），该协议更新了知识产权、数字贸易、金融服务、 数据存储和劳工条款。尽管谈判人员仍在制定协议的细节，但美国众议院于 2020 年 12 月 19 日 批准了美墨加协定，预计美国参议院将在 2020 年初通过批准美墨加协定的立法。5 由于墨西哥 参议院也批准了美墨加协定，因为该协议取代北美自由贸易协定，现在只需要美国参议院和加拿 大的批准。6 尽管墨西哥、美国和加拿大在其官方进行美国-墨西哥-加拿大协定谈判的过程中经 历了经济上的不确定性，墨西哥官方还是乐观地认为，批准贸易协定将推动墨西哥投资和增长的 新篇章，这将为中国在墨西哥进行投资创造更为有利的环境。7 4. 为了刺激经济增长，墨西哥正在向私人投资开放。 在墨西哥可以寻求的机会并不局限于制造业。未来几年，中国投资者可能会享受更多投资墨西哥 能源和基础设施项目的机会。在 2018 安德烈斯·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥夫拉多尔当选总统后的 几个月里，墨西哥政府采取了一种严重的左倾做法，对外国投资产生了敌意。由于总统洛佩斯·奥 夫拉多尔削减开支，取消了主要的公共工程项目，外国投资者开始对他们在墨西哥的投资感到冷 淡，而潜在的投资者寻求除墨西哥以外的市场。结果，墨西哥经济遭受打击，于 2019 年陷入衰 退。

然而，为了振兴墨西哥落后的经济，墨西哥政府最近开始缓和其民族主义和民粹主义政策，积极 欢迎私人投资。2019 年 11 月，总统洛佩斯·奥夫拉多尔宣布从 2020 到 2024 推出价值 440 亿 美元的基础设施项目，寻求私营部门的参与，对主要项目进行投资，从而刺激墨西哥经济增长。 8 仅在 2020 年，该计划就计划启动 72 个项目，价值 220 亿美元，主要涉及旅游、交通和电信。 9 预计第二轮项目将主要集中在能源领域。10 尽管至于该计划将如何实施，墨西哥政府将如何寻 求项目投标尚有待观察，墨西哥经济仍有可能在未来几年继续向外国投资者及私人投资者开放。 5. 许多中国企业在墨西哥取得了成功。 即使在墨西哥现有的经济条件下，中国企业在墨西哥也得到了蓬勃发展。台州富岭塑胶有限公司 是一家中国塑料器皿制造商，为美国餐馆生产纸杯和吸管。特朗普政府根据第 301 条采取的行动 包括对像富岭环球这样的纸制品征收关税。为了在美国保持竞争力，2019 春季，富岭宣布计划 在墨西哥蒙特雷开设一个四百万美元的工厂。该工厂原计划于 2019 年 7 月开始生产，并将数以 百万计的纸吸管运往美国。该公司现在充分利用了对美国免税出口，在墨西哥有利的商业条件， 以及由墨西哥有利的区位所带来的较低的运输成本。11 作为世界上最大的电视制造商之一，中国的海信公司于 2015 在墨西哥罗萨里托从夏普公司购买 了一家制造厂。该公司早在特朗普政府征收第 301 条关税之前就投资了一家墨西哥制造工厂， 瞄准美国消费市场。在 2016 春季，海信公司宣布将加倍投资于墨西哥，以更新和扩大其墨西哥 工厂，即海信公司将再次注入 3000 万美元，以加强自动化，并将其生产能力增加到四百万个单 位。海信公司表示，墨西哥的工资大致相当于中国的工资水平，但通过在墨西哥维持设施，从墨 西哥运输产品所需的时间比从中国运输产品要节省约一个月。12 自从征收第 301 款关税以来， 得益于海信在墨西哥投资的经营决定，墨西哥制造的海信产品能够进入美国，而不必支付根据第 301 款规定的关税。 B. 如何在墨西哥投资 中国政府对企业对外投资有一定的规定。中国企业计划境外投资，需要获得国家发展与改革委员 会（国家发改委）、中华人民共和国商务部（商务部）、中华人民共和国国家外汇管理局（外汇 管理局）三个政府部门的正式批准。每一个这样的政府机构都有自己的审批程序。

1. 国家发展与改革委员会 国家发改委将海外投资分为“敏感项目”与“非敏感项目”。这种划分标准取决于海外投资所处 的行业及国家。敏感项目的发起人必须提交项目申请报告，详细说明投资者、投资情况以及对中 国国家安全的影响。非敏感项目无需进行实质性审查，只需提交相关文件以供备案。 2. 中国商务部 商务部同样将投资划分为“敏感”投资项目和“非敏感”投资项目。如果是敏感投资项目，则必 须提交一份涵盖投资者和投资信息的申请，该申请在确定批准时须经过实质性审查。如果是非敏 感投资项目，只需填写《境外投资备案表》，并与企业营业执照复印件一并提交即可。 3. 国家外汇管理局 境外投资须办理外汇登记。根据外汇管理局的程序，各个银行负责对特定投资的外汇登记进行审 查和管理；然后，由外汇管理局监督银行的业务程序。因此，企业在申请外汇安全时，可能会发 现与一家或多家银行保持良好的关系以及在相关银行账户中持有足够的资本金是有帮助的。