MEXICO CITY - Mexico's new trade relationship with the United States represents the country's "biggest challenge" so far this century, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Sunday.

"We have never faced a challenge of this scale and complexity with the United States," Ebrard said during a meeting of the ruling National Regeneration Movement party, or Morena, in the Chamber of Deputies.

He said the global economy is undergoing a major shift from a free trade-based system to one increasingly shaped by protectionist principles aimed at bringing some manufacturing back to the US.

Under the new changes, Ebrard said, where a product is made is increasingly important, whereas price and quality, particularly price, used to matter more.

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In this context, Mexico has sought to preserve access to the US market and maintain one of the world's lowest effective tariff rates, he added.

Ebrard said Mexican exports of electronics, computing equipment and products linked to the artificial intelligence boom in the US rose sharply between 2025 and 2026.

Mexico's government expects the economy to grow between 1.8 percent and 2.8 percent this year.

Mexico's economy, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, expanded 0.5 percent in 2025, driven mainly by services amid weakness in industrial activity linked to the United States.