LatinNews Daily - 01 October 2025

*Mexico’s national chamber of transformation industries, Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transformación (Canacintra), has warned that plans to raise the special tax on production and services (IEPS) levied on tobacco products could boost the black market in cigarettes, among other negative effects. In a statement widely cited in the local press, Canacintra states that the tax increase, which is outlined in President Claudia Sheinbaum’s 2026 budget proposal, would add an additional M$20 (US$1.09) to a packet of cigarettes, which it said would not reduce tobacco consumption. Rather, it said the tax would drive more people to the black market, which it stated already represents over 20% of total cigarette consumption in Mexico, which implies an estimated annual tax loss of between M$13bn and M$15bn. “History in Mexico has already shown us that the fight against smoking is not won with fiscal policies, but with information and medium- and long-term health policies,” says Canacintra president, María de Lourdes Medina, in the statement.

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