Good news for business travel to Mexico: As of May 16, Mexico began issuing and accepting ATA Carnets for the temporary importation of merchandise. For those not familiar with the system, an ATA Carnet works like a passport for merchandise that is not intended to be sold or otherwise left in a country to which a business person travels. This is particularly advantageous for goods such as product samples, trade show equipment, promotional materials and other professional equipment. By obtaining an ATA Carnet prior to business travel, qualifying goods may be taken to any participating country for up to one year, free of duties and other taxes, as long as the goods are not sold in the country and depart in the same condition in which they entered. With Mexico on board, 71 countries now participate in the ATA Carnet network. For those of us involved in U.S.-Mexico and Europe-Mexico trade, the new development means a significant reduction in documentation and cost for business travel to Mexico with equipment and samples.
And by the way *cough* Brazil still doesn’t accept the ATA Carnet. What’s like totally up with those guys?
For more details on the ATA Carnet, please visit the International Chamber of Commerce or the United States Council for International Business.
Yesterday, the delicate sensibilities of Mexicans across the country were aflame with indignation over comments made by the hosts of the British television program Top Gear. On the pretext of introducing an item about a sports car manufactured in Mexico, the hosts unleashed a diatribe of derisive jokes about Mexicans and Mexican food. Video of the segment was picked up by the Mexican media and given significant attention, and social media were instantly flooded with outpourings of righteous umbrage.
MBAE & Helimex, a trade show focused on aviation equipment and services for business use, will be held February 28 to March 2, 2011 at the Toluca International Airport just west of Mexico City. The show features 40 – 50 industry-specific exhibitors and is closed to the general public. Toluca is the principal hub of Mexico’s business aviation industry. For more information, see 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travelled to Mexico on March 23 to lead a high-level security team in meetings with top Mexican officials to discuss the country’s war against the drug cartels. The size and level of Clinton’s all-star team at the meetings, which included Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, is an indication of how much attention violence in Mexico is receiving in the Obama administration right now. The March 14 shooting deaths of three people connected to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez certainly helped to raise the profile of the situation.
Mexico’s aerospace industry has posted astounding growth in recent years, turning the country into a key global aerospace manufacturer in the process. Mexico has been the world’s number one destination for aerospace manufacturing investment over the past two decades, with over US$1 billion in 2008 alone, according to the recent report Aerospace Globalization 2.0: The Next Stage, by industry consultants AeroStrategy. The country’s aviation industry has flown through quite a bit of turbulence (sorry) over the same period, but nonetheless represents an important market for products and services, between the commercial airlines, private air transport service providers and law enforcement and military fleets. The biennial Aero Expo coming up December 3-5 offers a great opportunity to meet the key players in NAFTA-region aerospace and aviation. Um, in Acapulco.
