Dear clients and friends,
On February 4, 2026, Ambassador Jamieson Greer announced the implementation of the U.S.-Mexico Critical Minerals Action Plan, the first of its kind between both nations. This initiative establishes a 60-day period to develop coordinated trade policies aimed at mitigating vulnerabilities in North American critical mineral supply chains.
The Plan encompasses three main pillars: (i) identifying specific minerals of mutual interest, (ii) exploring border-adjusted price floors for critical mineral imports, and (iii) consulting on the incorporation of these mechanisms into a binding plurilateral agreement on critical minerals trade. The announcement comes in the context of the upcoming joint review of the USMCA and seeks to address global market distortions that have left North American supply chains vulnerable to disruptions.
Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard actively participated in the negotiations, confirming Mexico’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in this strategic sector. While the announcement does not explicitly mention China, the Plan clearly responds to the global dependence on Chinese processing of critical minerals.
The United States published a list of 60 critical minerals for its national security and economic interests, which includes aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, boron, cesium, chromium, cobalt, copper, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, metallurgical coal, nickel, niobium, palladium, phosphate, platinum, potash, silver, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, zinc, zirconium, and 17 rare earth elements (cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium, yttrium), among others.
Mexico possesses significant production and reserves of several of these critical minerals. The country stands out particularly in silver, where it is a global production leader, as well as in fluorspar, copper, zinc, lead, graphite, barite, and lithium. The alignment between current Mexican production and the U.S. list represents a considerable commercial opportunity for the domestic mining sector.
The border-adjusted price floor mechanism would establish minimum prices for imports of specific critical minerals, designed to counter subsidies and dumping practices by third countries. For Mexican mining companies, this could translate into trade preferences over foreign competitors, particularly Asian ones. However, this mechanism also presents important considerations: price floors could affect the competitiveness of Mexican exports if domestic production costs exceed the minimum thresholds to be established.
The Action Plan represents an opportunity for the Mexican mining industry to integrate into strategic North American supply chains, while simultaneously presenting challenges related to cost competitiveness and potential compliance requirements that may arise from the future binding plurilateral agreement.
Should you have any questions or comments regarding the foregoing, please do not hesitate to call your usual contact with the Firm.
Mining
Pablo Méndez Alvídrez / pablo.mendez@ecrubio.com]
Alejandro Guerra Herrera / alejandro.guerra@ecrubio.com
Jorge Alberto Hernández Ogaz / jorge.hernandez@ecrubio.com
Kevin Daniel Rico Motis / daniel.rico@ecrubio.com
Jesús Martín Miranda Barraza / martin.miranda@ecrubio.com
