US creditors collect B2B debt in Mexico through Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil if they hold a pagaré or similar executive instrument, ordinary commercial procedure if they do not, or CAM/CANACO arbitration under the New York Convention.
# Debt Collection Mexico for US Companies: Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil and USMCA
US companies with unpaid Mexican B2B invoices have three credible paths: the Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil fast lane when the debt is backed by a pagaré or cheque, the ordinary or oral commercial procedure when it is not, and arbitration enforced through the New York Convention. The route that works depends entirely on the paper you already hold.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Legal system | Civil law, federal structure, 32 states plus federal courts |
| Governing statute | Código de Comercio (Commerce Code), federal |
| Fast-lane procedure | Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil, Arts. 1391-1414 Código de Comercio |
| Pre-service asset attachment | Yes, court orders embargo before debtor is served |
| Ordinary commercial limitation | 10 years, Art. 1047 Código de Comercio |
| Statutory late-payment interest | 6 percent per year, Art. 362 Código de Comercio, if no contract rate |
| Arbitration seats | CAM, CANACO, ICC Mexico |
| Foreign award enforcement | New York Convention 1958 |
| Foreign judgment enforcement | Montevideo Convention 1979 plus domestic review |
| USMCA role | Commercial disputes remain in national courts and arbitration |
Legal system
Civil law, federal structure, 32 states plus federal courts
Ordinary commercial limitation
10 years, Art. 1047 Código de Comercio
The Mexican commercial court system in one briefing
Mexico is a federal civil-law jurisdiction with 32 states and Mexico City. Commercial matters sit primarily under federal law through the Código de Comercio, but the Código grants concurrent jurisdiction: a creditor may elect a federal district court (Juzgado de Distrito) or a state court of first instance (Juzgado de Primera Instancia) for the same commercial claim. Small claims go to municipal or peace courts (Juzgados Municipales / de Paz) with thresholds that vary by state. Appeals from first-instance decisions go to a Tribunal de Segunda Instancia at state level or a Tribunal Colegiado de Circuito at federal level. The Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) sits at the top and handles constitutional review, including the amparo protection action that can be asserted by debtors as a defensive measure. Practitioners treat amparo as a real timeline risk: it does not typically defeat a well-pleaded executive action, but it extends it. Three cities dominate commercial litigation. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara have the most experienced commercial benches and the most predictable timelines. Rural state courts are slower, less familiar with foreign creditors, and more exposed to procedural surprises. Venue selection is therefore part of collection strategy, not a clerical step.KEY INSIGHT
US creditors collect B2B debt in Mexico through Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil if they hold a pagaré or similar executive instrument, ordinary commercial procedure if they do not, or CAM/CANACO arbitratio
Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil: the creditor's fastest weapon
Most English-language articles about Mexico describe collection as slow, opaque, and unpromising. They omit the single most important procedure in the Código de Comercio: the Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil, governed by Arts. 1391 through 1414. This is the executive commercial action, and it is uniquely creditor-friendly. To file, the creditor must hold a *título ejecutivo*, an executive instrument. The Código recognises a short list: the pagaré (promissory note), the letra de cambio (bill of exchange), the cheque, the notarized acknowledgment of debt, and certain authenticated public documents. When a creditor presents one of these, the court issues an *auto de exequendo* and orders an immediate *embargo*, meaning asset attachment against the debtor, BEFORE the debtor is served with the lawsuit. Service and attachment happen together, in that order, when the actuario judicial (court bailiff) arrives. That inversion is the whole game. In most civil-law jurisdictions the debtor is served, given a deadline to respond, and only then does the creditor reach assets. In Mexico, under the executive action, the assets are frozen first. A debtor who learns of a lawsuit by seeing their bank account or machinery embargoed negotiates differently from one who receives a demand letter. The instrument matters more than the underlying contract. US exporters who ship to Mexico on open account without obtaining a pagaré or a notarized acknowledgment lose access to this fast lane and are pushed into the ordinary procedure. The operational lesson: every significant invoice to a Mexican buyer should be backed by a signed pagaré held on file.Ordinary and oral commercial procedures
When no executive instrument exists, the creditor files under the Juicio Ordinario Mercantil. The ordinary commercial procedure involves full pleadings, evidence, witness testimony where needed, and judgment, followed by a separate execution phase. It is slow. Timelines in the most experienced courts commonly run before execution begins. A 2011 reform introduced the Juicio Oral Mercantil, an oral commercial procedure available for claims below periodically adjusted thresholds. The oral procedure compresses pleadings, requires a single hearing for evidence and arguments, and produces a faster judgment. It is the right choice for mid-sized claims without an executive instrument, because it avoids the worst of the ordinary procedure's delay.| Route | Requires | Typical speed | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil | Pagaré, letra de cambio, cheque, or notarized debt | Embargo day one, judgment in months | Debts with signed paper |
| Juicio Oral Mercantil | Claim under statutory threshold | Faster than ordinario, single hearing | Mid-sized claims without executive instrument |
| Juicio Ordinario Mercantil | Any commercial claim | Slow, often over a year to first judgment | Large disputed claims, complex evidence |
| CAM / CANACO / ICC arbitration | Arbitration clause in contract | 9 to 18 months typical | US exporters who drafted the contract properly |
Limitation periods and interest
Article 1047 of the Código de Comercio sets the general commercial limitation at 10 years. That is the backstop. Specific instruments carry shorter periods under title-of-credit law: a pagaré has a 3-year limitation running from maturity, and a cheque runs on a still shorter clock depending on the account relationship. A US creditor holding a pagaré that matured 4 years ago has lost the executive action even though the 10-year general period still runs on the underlying commercial debt. On late-payment interest, Article 362 of the Código de Comercio sets the statutory commercial rate at 6 percent per year simple interest where the contract is silent. Contracts almost always specify higher, and Mexican courts enforce contractually agreed rates subject to limits on usury. US exporters should write the rate into the contract and the pagaré.Can US debt collectors follow you to Mexico?
No US collection agency or US court has extraterritorial authority over a debtor in Mexico. Collection action on Mexican soil must be conducted by Mexican attorneys authorized to practice, through Mexican courts or through arbitration seated under Mexican or international rules. US creditors who try to enforce a US state-court judgment directly in Mexico without going through the exequatur process will be sent back to the start. The workable route is either (a) local Mexican proceedings from the beginning or (b) homologation of a US judgment through Mexican courts under the Montevideo Convention framework.Can a foreign debt be collected in Mexico?
Yes. A foreign creditor has the same access to Mexican commercial courts as a domestic creditor. There is no requirement of Mexican residency, no bond for foreign plaintiffs in most commercial matters, and no currency restriction on the amount claimed. The creditor must appoint Mexican counsel through a power of attorney executed before a notary and apostilled under the Hague Apostille Convention (Mexico is a party). Practical friction is administrative rather than substantive.Foreign judgment and arbitral award enforcement
Mexico is not a party to the HCCH 2005 Choice of Court Convention. It is a party to the Inter-American Convention on the Extraterritorial Validity of Foreign Judgments (Montevideo Convention 1979), which sets a framework for recognising judgments from other Inter-American signatories. US state and federal judgments fall outside the Montevideo umbrella in practice and are reviewed under the principles of the Federal Civil Code and applicable state civil procedure codes, with a homologation process that checks jurisdictional basis, due process, and public order. The cleaner route for US exporters is arbitration. Mexico is a party to the New York Convention 1958 on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, and Mexican courts have a credible track record of enforcing awards from ICC, CAM (Centro de Arbitraje de México), and CANACO (Cámara Nacional de Comercio) seats. Drafting an arbitration clause into the supply contract at the start converts a future enforcement problem into a straightforward Art. III New York Convention exequatur.USMCA and what it does not do
The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement replaced NAFTA in 2020 and governs trade and investment between the three countries. Chapter 14 retains an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, but it is substantially narrower than NAFTA Chapter 11 and is largely unavailable for ordinary commercial collection disputes. USMCA does not create a new cross-border civil judgment enforcement mechanism. A US exporter collecting a Mexican invoice uses the same tools an exporter used in 2019: Mexican courts, Mexican attorneys, or arbitration. USMCA's role is to keep tariffs and market-access rules stable, not to shortcut civil procedure.Information gain: the four-instrument map that unlocks Mexico
Most guides treat Mexican collection as a single grey block. It is not. The creditor's leverage depends on which of four instruments they hold at the moment they decide to act. A signed pagaré opens the Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil with pre-service embargo. A letra de cambio does the same. A cheque returned unpaid, with a bank protest, does the same. A notarized acknowledgment of debt signed before a Mexican notary is equally executive. Absent any of these, the creditor is pushed into the ordinary or oral procedure, which is slower by a factor of . The single highest-leverage decision a US credit manager can make is to obtain a pagaré at the moment of invoicing, not at the moment of dispute.
This service is not appropriate if:
- The debtor is a Mexican consumer, not a business. Consumer collection is governed by PROFECO and separate rules. InterStation handles B2B commercial only.
- The debt is under USD 10,000. Economics of cross-border Mexican litigation rarely justify action at that size. A direct attorney demand may be all that is warranted.
- The contract specifies exclusive US court jurisdiction with no arbitration clause. Mexican exequatur of a US judgment is possible but slow, and the debtor retains amparo defenses that a well-drafted arbitration route avoids.
- The debtor has already filed for concurso mercantil (Mexican insolvency). Individual collection is stayed and the creditor must file in the insolvency estate.
How InterStation Handles a Mexican B2B Collection File
1. Instrument audit. We catalogue what you hold: pagaré, letra de cambio, cheque, invoice, contract, purchase order, signed statement of account. This determines whether the Juicio Ejecutivo fast lane is open. 2. Mexican-side demand. A licensed Mexican attorney issues a Spanish-language formal demand with certified notice through SEPOMEX or direct notarial service. The tone is professional and final. 3. Venue selection and filing. We elect federal or state court, and we elect city. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara are preferred for predictability. We file the appropriate procedure and, where available, request embargo. 4. Execution or settlement. Post-embargo, most commercial debtors negotiate. Where they do not, we pursue execution against attached assets. Where arbitration is the contractual route, we file at CAM, CANACO, or ICC. 5. Cross-border repatriation. Judgment or settlement proceeds are remitted to the US creditor through compliant channels, with documentation suitable for US tax and audit.FAQ
Can US debt collectors follow you to Mexico?
No. Collection action on Mexican soil must be conducted by Mexican attorneys through Mexican courts or arbitration. A US agency cannot directly dun a Mexican debtor under Mexican law. The workable route is Mexican counsel filing a Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil or ordinary commercial procedure, or arbitration enforced under the New York Convention.
Can debt collectors collect overseas?
Yes, through local counsel and local procedure in the debtor's jurisdiction. For Mexico specifically, a US creditor engages Mexican attorneys, files under the Código de Comercio, and enforces through Mexican courts. Where an arbitration clause exists, the creditor uses CAM, CANACO, or ICC and enforces the award under the New York Convention.
Can a US company do business in Mexico?
Yes. US companies trade with Mexican counterparties freely under USMCA and general Mexican commercial law. A US company does not need a Mexican legal entity to sell into Mexico, but it does need a pagaré or equivalent executive instrument on every significant invoice if it wants access to Mexico's fast-lane collection procedure.
Can a foreign debt be collected in the US?
Yes, where a foreign creditor holds a judgment or arbitral award. US state courts recognise foreign judgments under state versions of the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, and US federal courts enforce arbitral awards under the New York Convention via 9 USC Chapter 2. The mirror question for a Mexican creditor collecting in the US follows the same logic.
Can US debt collectors follow you to Mexico?
US agencies have no direct enforcement powers in Mexico. The creditor instructs a licensed Mexican abogado or a network partner with Mexican licensing who files through the Juzgado de Distrito or initiates a juicio ejecutivo mercantil. The US agency coordinates intake and reporting while the Mexican professional handles local procedure.
Can a foreign debt be collected in the US?
Yes. A foreign creditor can pursue a US debtor through US state courts. Each state has its own recognition rules for foreign judgments, typically under the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act. Alternatively, the creditor files a fresh claim in the applicable state court based on the underlying contract.
Sources and Legal References
1. Código de Comercio (Mexico), federal consolidated text: https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/3_250521.pdf
2. Inter-American Convention on Extraterritorial Validity of Foreign Judgments (Montevideo 1979): https://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/b-41.html
3. New York Convention 1958 status list, UNCITRAL: https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/arbitration/conventions/foreign_arbitral_awards/status2
4. Centro de Arbitraje de México (CAM): https://www.camex.com.mx
5. CANACO Arbitration Center (Cámara Nacional de Comercio): https://arbitrajecanaco.com.mx
6. Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación: https://www.scjn.gob.mx
7. USMCA / T-MEC full text, Secretaría de Economía: https://www.gob.mx/t-mec