Mexico blocking statute (1996)

Mexico's blocking statute, the Ley de Protección al Comercio y la Inversión de Normas Extranjeras que Contravengan el Derecho Internacional, was published on 23 October 1996 and entered into force the following day. The Chamber of Deputies' current text records its latest amendment as 9 April 2012. It is a defensive instrument within Economic statecraft.

Rules and limits

Article 1 prohibits covered persons from taking acts affecting Mexican trade or investment as a consequence of specified extraterritorial foreign laws. Coverage includes persons in Mexico, persons whose acts occur or have effects wholly or partly there, and persons submitting to Mexican law. The provision defines the foreign laws by their objectives, rather than requiring a list of individually designated measures: economic blockade or investment restrictions aimed at changing a country's form of government; private expropriation claims concerning the blockaded country; or entry restrictions used to pursue those objectives.

Article 2 prohibits supplying information demanded by foreign courts or authorities under those laws. Article 3 requires affected persons to report potential harm or demands and notices to the foreign affairs and economy ministries. Articles 7 and 8 give both ministries advisory and interpretative functions. Article 9 authorises the foreign affairs ministry to impose administrative sanctions for breaches of Articles 1 to 3 under the federal administrative procedure law.

Article 4 requires Mexican courts to refuse recognition and enforcement of judgments, judicial demands and arbitral awards based on the covered foreign laws. Article 5 permits a person ordered to pay compensation under such a judgment or award to sue the foreign claimant in Mexico's federal courts for the award amount and associated losses and costs. Article 6 separately allows recognition and enforcement of qualifying foreign recovery judgments against persons who benefited from the original foreign proceedings.

These domestic remedies do not repeal foreign legislation or establish that foreign pressure failed. Their practical effect depends on jurisdiction, procedure, recoverable assets and enforcement. This account paraphrases the official Spanish text; it is not an official translation and makes no finding about individual enforcement cases or current monetary penalty equivalents.

See also

Blocking statutes · Helms-Burton Act (1996) · EU Blocking Statute (Regulation 2271/96) · Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (Canada, 1985)

Sources

• Cámara de Diputados, *Ley de Protección al Comercio y la Inversión de Normas Extranjeras que Contravengan el Derecho Internacional*, published 23 October 1996, current text with latest amendment 9 April 2012, Articles 1 to 9 and transitional provision; checked 23 October 2026.
• Cámara de Diputados, official publication and amendment history, checked 23 October 2026.