Mexico proposes national-security screening for foreign investment

A new chapter in the Foreign Investment Law would put acquisitions above 49% in strategic sectors under case-by-case review.

Why it matters: Mexico joins the two-way FDI restriction wave — with the EU pushing port screening, China tightening SOE outbound rules, and Japan's FEFTA amendments — widening the compliance surface for every infrastructure deal.

Data as of: October 3, 2026 Issued: Saturday, October 3, 2026 Evidence key: CONFIRMED (primary source), REPORTED (multiple outlets), RUMORED (unverified market reporting), ANALYTICAL (inference).

Mexico’s presidency introduced a national-security chapter for the Foreign Investment Law on August 30. The proposal gives the CNIE case-by-case review power over acquisitions above 49% in strategic sectors — energy, transport, healthcare, communications, mining, data processing and storage, digital systems, and aerospace and defense. The asset threshold is still to be determined, with a 180-day clock running.

The bill is one front of a widening global perimeter. The EU Council is pushing port-investment screening tied to economic security, measured against a CFR baseline of 145 Chinese-involved overseas port projects. China’s finance ministry tightened viability and political-risk checks on SOE foreign investment. Japan’s July 2026 FEFTA amendments moved it closer to CFIUS-style review. In the US, a July 2025 executive order blocking the 2020 Suirui/Jupiter acquisition and a February 2026 DOJ enforcement action show five-year lookback divestitures are live risk.

The implication for dealmakers: the binding constraint on infrastructure allocation is shifting from equity availability to permission. Every cross-border transaction now needs a screening map before it needs a financing map.