Will Taxation Destroy the Mining Industry in Mexico?

It has been observed with considerable accuracy that if the major U. S. mines were moved to Mexico tomorrow, many of them would be losing money. But the companies would continue to operate, losses or not, because they would have to. And some of the newest and most promising low grade ore projects in the U. S. would never have "gotten off the ground" had they faced the equivalent of the mining taxes now in effect in Mexico. No one of the various mining taxes in Mexico seems prohibitive by itself. Taken together, on the balance sheet, however, the picture changes. Production and export taxes alone take from 20 to 40 pct of the gross product value for base and precious metals.