Start with the part most guides bury: this is not a lane we sell. Our checkout prices United States domestic parcels and four international destinations, and Mexico is not one of them. That is a reason to write the country down accurately rather than a reason to skip it, because the two facts that decide a Mexican shipment are both knowable before anybody buys postage. Mexico takes a heavier parcel than Canada and a far shorter one, and since October 2024 it will not run an express shipment through simplified clearance at all without the recipient's own tax number.
Mexico raises the weight ceiling and cuts the tape measure almost in half.
Mexico is the roomier lane on the scale and much the tighter one on the tape measure. Priority Mail International runs to 70 lb here, four pounds above the ceiling Canada sets, and then stops the box at 42 inches long inside 79 inches of length plus girth, where Canada allows 79 inches long inside 108. Anyone who has shipped both borders and reaches for the same carton twice finds that out at the counter.
| Product | Weight ceiling | Longest side | Length plus girth | Customs paperwork |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priority Mail International | 70 lb | 42 in | 79 in | PS Form 2976-A inside PS Form 2976-E |
| Priority Mail Express International | 70 lb | 36 in | 79 in | PS Form 2976-B inside PS Form 2976-E |
| First-Class Package International Service | 4 lb | Small packet limits per the international manual | PS Form 2976 | |
| First-Class Mail International | 3.5 oz letters and postcards, 15.994 oz large envelopes | Letter and flat limits | None, unless otherwise required | |
| Airmail M-bags | 66 lb | Direct sack of printed matter to one addressee | PS Form 2976 | |
| “Global Express Guaranteed” | Listed as suspended since September 29, 2024 | — | — | Not applicable while suspended |
Forty-two inches is the number that actually decides shipments. A set of golf clubs, a pair of skis, a floor lamp, a curtain rod, a disassembled bicycle frame and a rolled rug are all ordinary parcels that clear the weight limit comfortably and fail the length one. The way round it is to shorten the package rather than to argue with the ceiling, which for some items means dismantling and for others means a different network entirely; our page on golf clubs to Mexico works one of those cases all the way through.
The M-bag row is worth noticing for the opposite reason. Mexico accepts Airmail M-bags at 66 lb, where the Canadian and German listings both print the product as Not Available, so a sack of books, catalogs or magazines to one Mexican addressee has a route that a sender to the nearer border simply does not get.
Until late 2024 an express shipment into Mexico could be cleared under a generic taxpayer number, which meant the sender needed nothing personal from the recipient beyond an address. That door is shut. The US Department of Commerce country guide records the change plainly: “Mexico removed the option to use a generic taxpayer number and now requires the consignee's RFC (Mexican Tax ID) to access the simplified procedure.”
The RFC, or Registro Federal de Contribuyentes, is the Mexican tax registration number belonging to the person or business receiving the goods. The consequence of not having it is stated just as plainly by the same guide: a shipment missing the required RFC data cannot use the simplified lane and has to be cleared under standard procedures instead, which means more documentation, more time and usually a broker.
For a business consignee this is an administrative detail, because a Mexican company has an RFC and uses it daily. For a consumer it is a genuine friction point. A private individual may not know the number, may not have it to hand, and may reasonably hesitate before sending a tax identifier to a stranger who sold them a jacket. Ask before the sale rather than after the box is packed, and treat a refusal as a fact about the shipment rather than a problem to work around.
Mexico sets a low tax-free line and a second, higher line that applies only to goods of United States origin. Both are worth knowing to the dollar, because a listing priced just over one of them turns a simple delivery into an assessment.
| Where the value falls | What applies |
|---|---|
| Up to USD 50 | Free of tax |
| Up to USD 117, products of United States origin | Duty free, subject to conditions |
| Above USD 117, USMCA origin | A 19 percent global rate where the conditions are met, among them coverage by an air waybill or bill of lading and no non-tariff measures |
| Any value, entries that are not USMCA origin | A 33.5 percent global rate |
| Above USD 1,000 | An import permit or license is required; below it, none is |
| Commercial shipments at any value | Two copies of the commercial invoice inserted inside the package |
The two rate figures came into use on August 15, 2025 and they are the reason origin is worth documenting properly rather than assuming. A shipment that qualifies as USMCA origin and is covered by the right transport document meets a rate a little over half the size of the one that applies to everything else, and the difference is decided by paperwork that costs nothing to prepare and cannot be added later.
The postal side records the same low line from its own direction. Since March 1, 2019 the USPS country listing has noted that import taxes determined by the Mexican customs authority apply to goods with a declared value above USD 50, and that Correos de Mexico asks for a commercial invoice to accompany them. The listing also names the food-supplement trap: an importer of food supplements has to hold a health certificate issued by the Mexican government, and the advice is not to dispatch them without knowing the recipient can obtain one.
Two entries on the prohibition list are the ones an ordinary sender is most likely to trip, and neither looks dangerous sitting on a kitchen table: nicotine devices and medicine.
Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are barred outright, with no strength limit or packing standard that makes them acceptable. That is a stricter line than Canada draws next door, where only vaping liquid at or above a stated nicotine concentration is prohibited, and it means an American seller cannot treat the two North American borders as one policy.
Pharmaceutical products sit on the same list, which surprises people sending medicine to a relative. There is no small-quantity personal exception written into the entry. Pork products are prohibited as well, so jerky, chorizo and a gift tin of ham are all refusals rather than gambles, and perishable confectionery goes the same way.
Valuables here are prohibited rather than restricted, which is a sharper rule than most country listings use. Coins, banknotes, securities payable to bearer, traveler's checks, platinum, gold, silver, precious stones and jewelry cannot be sent at all, where many destinations allow them inside an insured parcel.
Three categories are restricted instead of barred and each needs a document before the box moves. Chocolate requires prior authorization from the Mexican Secretary of Commerce. Cremated remains require the death certificate and the cremation certificate and are subject to non-intrusive inspection. Medicinal, beauty, cosmetic and toilet products require approval from the Department of Public Health.
SMKlog sells parcel labels: United States domestic, and online to Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. Mexico is not on that list, and saying so early is cheaper for everyone than letting somebody fill in a form to find out.
No Mexican price appears anywhere on this page, and that is deliberate. Every figure this site publishes comes from a quote captured against production on the date shown, and there is no Mexican quote to capture because the lane is not sold. A number invented to fill the gap would be worth less than the empty space.
Mexican customs procedure has changed twice in two years, once for the taxpayer number and once for the global rates, and country listings are revised without notice. The wording above is what those pages carried on 2026-09-01; read them again before a shipment that turns on a limit.
No. Our checkout prices United States domestic parcels and sells four international lanes online, to Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. Mexico is not among them and no version of the checkout produces a Mexican label. The domestic leg to a forwarder or consolidator prices live in the calculator, and a person prices an export leg through freight review.
The RFC is the Mexican tax registration number belonging to the person or business receiving the shipment. The US Department of Commerce country guide records that Mexico withdrew the option to clear an express shipment under a generic taxpayer number, effective October 15, 2024, so a shipment arriving without the consignee RFC cannot use the simplified lane and is cleared under standard procedures instead.
The Department of Commerce country guide states that Mexico applies USD 50 free of tax and duty free up to USD 117 for US origin products, subject to conditions. The USPS country listing records the same USD 50 line from the postal side, in force since March 1, 2019, and notes that Correos de Mexico asks for a commercial invoice to travel with anything above it.
Priority Mail International reaches 70 lb but stops at 42 inches long inside 79 inches of length plus girth, and the express version stops at 36 inches long. That is a heavier allowance than Canada gets and a far shorter one, so on this lane it is long items rather than heavy ones that fail.
Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are barred outright, and so are pharmaceutical products, pork products and perishable confectionery. Coins, banknotes, precious metals, precious stones and jewelry are prohibited rather than merely restricted. Chocolate is not prohibited, but it needs prior authorization from the Mexican Secretary of Commerce before it can be sent.