PROSEC in Mexico: What It Is and How It Lowers Import Duty

Your Mexico cost model has a line for import duty, and some parts on the bill of materials come from countries Mexico has no trade agreement with. Then someone on the team mentions PROSEC.

PROSEC is short for Programas de Promoción Sectorial, Mexico’s Sectoral Promotion Programs. It lets approved manufacturers bring in listed production goods at a lower Mexican import duty. The Ministry of Economy (Secretaría de Economía) runs it across 24 industrial sectors. It applies whether the finished product is sold in Mexico or exported.

Which manufacturers and imports qualify for PROSEC

Eligibility turns on three things together: what you make, what you import to make it, and what the authorization covers. A sector label alone does not settle it.

For each sector, the decree lists the products that qualify a manufacturer and, separately, the inputs and machinery that can come in at the lower rate. The sectors range from electronics and auto parts to chemicals, plastics, textiles, machinery and medical equipment. The Ministry of Economy publishes the full list of 24 sectors.

That structure is why a sector label does not cover everything a plant buys. For example, an automotive parts maker may use the PROSEC rate for a listed steel input. A purchase the list leaves out needs its own check, against the general rate or another preference that may apply. Machinery can qualify too, when it is listed for the sector. The rate itself is set line by line: exempt on some entries, reduced on others.

That leaves the question of who holds the program. A direct producer makes the listed products. An indirect producer turns listed inputs into different goods for a direct producer that has registered it. The indirect producer also needs its own PROSEC authorization. Either way, the holder has to be a company established in Mexico.

What PROSEC can change in your Mexico budget

Once the goods are identified, the next question is what the lower rate is worth. The general tariff is not always the number to beat. If an input qualifies for a trade-agreement rate and has the paperwork to prove its origin, that rate may already be lower, and some general rates are already zero.

So compare the PROSEC rate with the best rate you could lawfully use instead, input by input. For example, an input that already enters at zero under a trade agreement gains nothing from PROSEC. Keep the materials you buy again and again apart from one-time equipment, because each changes the model in a different way.

PROSEC also does not exempt import VAT. On a definitive import, the duty is part of the amount VAT is charged on, so a lower duty can also lower the VAT due at entry. IVA/IEPS certification is separate: certified companies can cover the VAT on qualifying temporary imports with a tax credit instead of paying it in cash.

That comparison got sharper on January 1, 2026, when higher general import duties took effect on a long list of tariff lines, at rates up to 50%. The increases matter most for goods without a trade-agreement rate. Where an input’s general rate went up and its PROSEC rate stayed lower, the possible saving grew.

The PROSEC lists themselves change too. On April 24, 2026, a change to the decree updated some of the steel inputs listed for the electrical, electronics and automotive sectors. Some entries carry technical conditions, such as carbon content or plate grade and thickness, so check the product specification as well as the tariff code. The Ministry’s IMMEX 4.0 presentation also outlines a planned update of the PROSEC lists for newer industries in 2027.

So put a PROSEC saving in the budget only once the goods, the rate and the authorization have been checked against each other.

Keeping your suppliers, and selling in Mexico

PROSEC does not depend on where an input comes from. Say you keep a supplier in a country Mexico has no trade agreement with: if that input is listed for your sector, the PROSEC rate can still apply. It does not lift other import requirements, such as permits or standards that apply to certain products.

That brings up origin, which is really two questions. For an input, a trade-agreement rate depends on its origin under that agreement, not just the supplier’s address or the country it ships from. Your finished product then faces its own USMCA origin test. It can contain non-originating materials and still qualify, if it meets the rules for that product. Making it in Mexico is not enough on its own. Our guide to Mexico’s free trade agreements explains how origin is judged at both borders.

Then there is selling in Mexico. The program applies whether the covered product is sold in Mexico or shipped abroad. If you also bring materials in temporarily under IMMEX, selling into Mexico needs its own customs and tax steps.

How PROSEC works with IMMEX, USMCA and Rule 8

A plant in Mexico often runs under several programs at once, and each does one job.

Here is where PROSEC and USMCA meet. When a plant running an IMMEX program exports to the US or Canada, Mexican duty can still be owed on materials that do not qualify as originating under USMCA. Where the agreement’s limit on duty deferral applies, the relief cannot exceed the lower of two amounts: the relevant Mexican duty, and the qualifying import duty actually paid and documented in the US or Canada. Where duty is owed, it is paid on the return declaration or within 60 calendar days of the export.

This is where PROSEC helps. Mexico’s rules let an authorized PROSEC rate be used in that calculation, so PROSEC can lower what is owed. For example, where that limit applies and no qualifying import duty was paid in the US or Canada, the Mexican duty stays payable, calculated at the authorized PROSEC rate where there is one. It does not make the finished product originate, and it does not replace a USMCA certification.

Rule 8, or Regla Octava, is a separate permit from the Ministry of Economy. It lets a manufacturer bring in listed inputs, parts and machinery under one heading of Mexico’s tariff, 98.02, usually at a lower rate. A PROSEC authorization comes first, and goods brought in under Rule 8 can only go into making the products of the authorized sector. Each permit has its own criteria and a limited validity.

Getting PROSEC and keeping it

A new operation can apply. The application goes to the Ministry of Economy, and it has to show a real plant. That means the production process, the products, the inputs and the site. You need the legal right to use the site, not ownership of it, and the authorities can check the plant. Build the application into your launch plan rather than leaving it for later.

Under a shelter, the program holder’s authorization is the one that counts. Ask whether it covers your products, and whether your project needs a sector extension or a separate permit.

Then comes keeping it. The holder files an annual operations report each spring. The deadline depends on whether the company also holds IMMEX, and a missed report can suspend the program and then lead to cancellation. The holder also keeps inventory records, and uses or transfers the imported goods only under the program’s conditions. When a product, a site or a process changes, check the treatment again before the next shipment.

What to gather before assessing PROSEC

Before PROSEC goes into your budget, your trade team will need:

• the finished products, with specifications and the manufacturing process;
• the bill of materials, with specifications for each imported item;
• each item’s Mexican tariff classification, confirmed by the customs broker;
• supplier locations, country-of-origin information and the evidence behind any trade-agreement origin you claim;
• estimated customs values, quantities and how often you buy;
• equipment listed apart from recurring materials;
• where the finished products will be sold;
• which authorization would cover the operation, and for which sectors.

Then ask one question of your Mexico business case: which duty assumptions are already confirmed against your actual products?

How Tetakawi handles PROSEC

Tetakawi has helped companies manufacture in Mexico since 1986. Today it helps manufacturers expand into Mexico through its Manufacturing Campus model and its shelter services. You run your own factory, and Tetakawi runs everything around it. Tetakawi is not a contract manufacturer.

You control production, process and quality.

A Campus adds established industrial space, shared infrastructure and an on-site support organization. That support covers four areas. Industrial Space is the building your plant runs in. Workforce covers recruiting, employment and payroll, while you direct the work. Logistics covers your imports and exports and the trade programs they run under. Compliance covers the registrations, permits and standing your operation relies on.

In this shelter arrangement, your goods cross under the IMMEX program and customs registrations held on Tetakawi’s side. In Mexico, the importer and exporter of record is on Tetakawi’s side; entering the United States, your company is.

That is also where PROSEC sits. If your products fall in a sector the authorization does not yet cover, the import and export team applies to extend it, using the product and input data you supply, and files for any other special permits your products require. Classification is the call of the Mexican customs broker Tetakawi appoints. Whether an extension or permit is granted is up to the Ministry of Economy.

Your team supplies accurate part data and reports engineering changes, scrap and cycle counts. The customs duties on your goods stay yours. See how Tetakawi’s import and export services support an operation on a Campus.