By Brenda Cordova, Braumiller Law Group Mexico Legal Counsel
In 2022, the United States was the leading recipient of Mexico’s tequila exports. In that same year, the U.S. imported more than 338 million liters of tequila from the country, more than 32 times the volume imported by Germany, Mexico’s second most important tequila export partner. In fact the United States Mexico Agreement (USMCA – the free trade agreement signed between Mexico, the United States and Canada) promotes and protects the trading of tequila between these 3 countries as it acknowledges it is a distinctive product of Mexico. Accordingly, Canada and the United States shall not permit the sale of any product as Tequila unless it has been manufactured in Mexico in accordance with the laws and regulations of Mexico governing the manufacture of Tequila.