Korea Mexico Summit Puts Tariffs and Car Plants on the Agenda
Mexico · Diplomacy
Key Facts
- —What happened South Korean President Lee Jae-myung arrived in Mexico on Wednesday 23 September 2026 for a three-day state visit.
- —Why it matters Korean firms run Kia’s car plant in Nuevo León and Samsung factories in Querétaro and Tijuana.
- —Who is meeting whom President Claudia Sheinbaum receives Lee at Palacio Nacional on Thursday 24 September 2026, at 10 a.m. Mexico City time.
- —The catch Mexico has taxed cars from countries without a trade agreement, South Korea among them, at up to 50% since 1 January 2026.
- —What the peso is worth Mexico’s currency is the peso, which closed at 17.50 to the US dollar on 23 September 2026.
- —What is meant to be signed Both governments have prepared a Mexico-Korea Action Plan for 2026 to 2030 covering innovation, artificial intelligence and aerospace.
South Korea’s president has landed in Mexico City with a tariff grievance and a five-year cooperation plan to sign. Claudia Sheinbaum receives him on Thursday morning.
The Korea Mexico summit opens at Palacio Nacional on Thursday 24 September 2026. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung arrived the evening before, for the first Korean state visit in 16 years.
Palacio Nacional is the seat of Mexico’s presidency, on the main square of the capital. President Claudia Sheinbaum receives Lee there at 10 a.m. Mexico City time.
Lee landed at Felipe Ángeles International Airport, north of the capital, with his wife Kim Hye-kyung. Roberto Velasco Álvarez, Mexico’s foreign secretary since April 2026, met him there.
Why a Korean state visit matters in Mexico
About 500 Korean companies operate in Mexico, Lee said in written answers to the Mexican daily El Universal. He put their investment near US$13.3 billion and the jobs at about 150,000.
Mexico’s own Economy Ministry counts a smaller number. Its figures put Korean direct investment at US$12.36 billion between 1999 and 2025, as reported by Expansión.
The two totals rest on different sources and different definitions. The Mexican series counts only flows registered with Mexican authorities since 1999.
Most of that money is already in the ground. Of the US$1.308 billion booked in 2024, only US$3.67 million was new investment rather than reinvested profit or intra-company lending.
Kia in Nuevo León is the anchor
Kia builds cars at Pesquería, in the northern state of Nuevo León. The plant started building the EV3 electric model on 4 August 2026, the first EV3 built outside South Korea.
Kia is spending US$649 million at the plant between 2026 and 2028, on production lines, solar power and water recycling. Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard announced the figure in July 2026.
Samsung makes refrigerators, washers and dryers in Querétaro and assembles flat screens in Tijuana. LG runs a television plant in Reynosa, in the border state of Tamaulipas.
Nuevo León took US$567 million of Korean investment in 2024 alone, more than any other Mexican state. Mexico City and Baja California followed.
The tariff that Seoul wants lifted
Mexico published a decree in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, its official gazette, on 29 December 2025. It raised duties on 1,463 tariff lines from 1 January 2026.
The measure hits goods from countries with no free-trade agreement with Mexico, South Korea among them. Cars carry the top rate of 50%.
Seoul objected early. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said in September 2025 that Korea hoped to be left out of what he called a unilateral increase.
He made the point on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Cho argued that World Trade Organization rules require consultation before such duties rise.
The issue has not gone away. The two foreign ministries agreed in August 2026 to keep consulting on tariff disruption, Forbes Mexico reported.
No free-trade agreement is on the table
Talks on a Korea-Mexico free-trade agreement have stalled for years. In May 2026 the two governments set the idea aside altogether.
Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo agreed a trade and investment framework instead. They also created a strategic ministerial dialogue and a working group.
Ebrard went further in July 2026. He said Mexico was not contemplating new trade agreements at that moment, and not only with China.
Lee has not dropped the idea. Resuming negotiations for an economic agreement is important, he told El Universal in written answers published on 23 September 2026.
What Thursday is meant to produce
The Korea Mexico summit is built around a Mexico-Korea Action Plan for 2026 to 2030. Velasco negotiated the text in Seoul in August 2026 with Cho Hyun.
It covers innovation, artificial intelligence, digital governance and aerospace, plus scholarships and a Korean cultural centre. Memorandums of understanding are due to be exchanged at the meeting.
National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac set out the programme in Seoul on 21 September 2026. It runs to a wreath-laying, a working lunch and a joint press announcement.
A business forum follows at the World Trade Center in Mexico City on Friday 25 September 2026. Lee is also due to meet Korean residents.
Lee has said he wants closer police cooperation against online fraud, human trafficking and drug trafficking. He set that out in the same written answers.
What it means if you live or invest here
Goods made inside Mexico do not pay the import duty. That is why assembly lines at Pesquería, Querétaro and Reynosa matter more than any communique.
A Korean-built car shipped to Mexico now arrives with a heavy tax attached. A Korean-branded car built in Nuevo León does not.
Mexico’s currency is the peso. It closed at a rate of 17.50 to the US dollar on 23 September 2026, according to Infobae.
For foreigners with a stake in the country, the test of the Korea Mexico summit is whether that duty bends. Ebrard has tied trade policy to the coming review of Mexico’s treaty with the United States and Canada.
More: Mexico coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Korea Mexico summit about?
President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea and President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico meet at Palacio Nacional in Mexico City on Thursday 24 September 2026, at 10 a.m. Mexico City time. The agenda runs to trade, investment, artificial intelligence, digital governance, aerospace, defence and cultural exchange. The centrepiece is a Mexico-Korea Action Plan covering 2026 to 2030, negotiated in Seoul in August 2026 by Foreign Secretary Roberto Velasco Álvarez and Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun. Memorandums of understanding are also due to be exchanged.
Why is Mexico taxing Korean cars?
Mexico published a decree in its official gazette on 29 December 2025 raising duties on 1,463 tariff lines from 1 January 2026, with rates from 5% to 50%. The measure applies to countries that have no free-trade agreement with Mexico, a list that includes South Korea, China, India, Indonesia and Thailand. Cars carry the top rate of 50%. The stated aim is to replace imports with Mexican production. South Korea’s foreign minister, Cho Hyun, asked in September 2025 to be excluded and cited World Trade Organization rules on consultation.
How much have Korean companies invested in Mexico?
Mexico’s Economy Ministry puts direct investment from South Korea at US$12.36 billion between 1999 and 2025, a total reported by the business magazine Expansión. The 2024 flow was US$1.308 billion, of which only US$3.67 million was genuinely new investment; the rest was reinvested profit and lending between related companies. Nuevo León received US$567 million in 2024, ahead of Mexico City and Baja California. Lee Jae-myung, writing for El Universal, put the cumulative figure nearer US$13.3 billion across about 500 companies and some 150,000 jobs.
Is there a free-trade agreement between Mexico and South Korea?
No. Negotiations have stalled for years, and in May 2026 Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo set aside the idea of a conventional deal. They agreed instead on a trade and investment framework, a strategic ministerial dialogue and a joint working group. In July 2026 Ebrard said Mexico was not contemplating new trade agreements at that moment, pointing to the coming review of its treaty with the United States and Canada. Lee continues to press publicly for talks on an economic agreement.
Sources: El Universal on the arrival and the Palacio Nacional schedule, El Universal’s written interview with Lee Jae-myung, Seoul Economic Daily on the programme and the welcome party, Seoul Economic Daily on Wi Sung-lac’s briefing, The Korea Times on the summit agenda, Infobae on the action plan negotiated in Seoul, Forbes Mexico on the five-year cooperation plan, El Cronista on the ministerial dialogue that replaced trade-deal talks, Infobae on Marcelo Ebrard ruling out new trade deals, El Informador on the tariff decree in the official gazette, El Universal on Seoul’s objection to the tariffs, Data México, the Economy Ministry’s investment series, Expansión on the cumulative investment total, Cluster Industrial on Kia’s spending at Pesquería, El Imparcial on Marcelo Ebrard announcing the Kia EV3 investment, Infobae on the peso’s close on 23 September 2026
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