Sheinbaum Signs Steel Industry Promotion Agreement: All Federal Projects Must Use Mexican Steel

President Claudia Sheinbaum signed the 'Acuerdo para el Fomento de la Industria Siderúrgica Nacional' (Agreement for the Promotion of the National Steel Industry) on April 29, 2026, requiring all federal public works projects to use domestically produced steel and iron. The agreement covers 19 federal agencies and three industry chambers — the Cámara Nacional del Acero (Canacero), the Cámara Nacional de la Industria de la Construcción (CNIC), and the Cámara Mexicana de la Industria de la Construcción (CMIC). Anti-Corruption Minister Raquel Buenrostro was designated as the deal's enforcer. Canacero chief Sergio de la Maza called it a 'decisive step' for import substitution, protecting approximately 90,000 direct jobs and providing certainty for over $8 billion in ongoing investment. For 2026, the public sector committed to procuring 150,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel, 150,000 tonnes of structural steel, and over one million tonnes for railway construction. The measure was Sheinbaum's direct economic response after bilateral negotiations to lift US steel and aluminum tariffs failed to reach agreement ahead of the USMCA formal review. By redirecting the government's construction purchasing power — which consumes approximately 60% of Mexico's domestic steel — toward national producers, Mexico essentially launched an import-substitution strategy in the steel sector without a retaliatory tariff. The agreement was unveiled at Wednesday's mañanera alongside the MX$5.6 trillion Plan México Acciones framework announced May 4.