President Trump said he would pause tariffs on Mexico for a month, but levies on Canada and China were still set to take effect tomorrow.
President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico struck a deal with the Trump administration to delay stiff tariffs, which were set to take effect on Tuesday, for a month as the two countries reached a series of agreements on border security. Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 additional troops, who President Trump said would be designated to stop the flow of migrants and illegal drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said that the 10,000 Mexican national guard troops being sent to the border would be pulled from other parts of the country and would be in addition to security forces already there. She said it was important for “humanitarian” reasons for Mexico to help control the flow of fentanyl into the United States, and she said there was a plan to deploy the troops immediately.
In return, Mexico will get at least a temporary reprieve from the blanket 25% tariffs Trump announced on Saturday, as well as help from the US government to stanch the movement of guns back over the border, Sheinbaum said on Monday. “The United States is committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico called her deal with the Trump administration — averting tariffs for a month and cooperating to curb the flow of drugs and weapons — a “good agreement.” She also said she had told Trump about the Mexican government’s new campaign to discourage its people from using fentanyl: Posters and digital billboards have recently appeared across the country contrasting images of despair with family scenes and urging Mexicans to “Choose Happiness.” With a smile, Sheinbaum said Trump had said of the campaign, “Send it to me.”
“Sovereignty is not negotiable,” President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said in closing at the news conference. “An indisputable factor is the dignity of the people, of the nation and sovereignty. And within this framework, agreements are reached.” Officials in the room applauded.
The agreement, two days after Trump also announced tariffs of 25% against Canada and 10% against China, came amid fears that the measures would disrupt the global economy, roiling stock markets around the world.
Mexico will also focus on expanding an import substitution plan, dubbed Plan Mexico, Sheinbaum said at the news conference. The program essentially seeks to curb imports from countries like China, start producing those goods in Mexico and strengthen Mexican industries. The goal, she said, was to revive the “Made in Mexico” label on various products.
The peso and Canadian dollar, which had declined against the U.S. dollar because of the looming threat of tariffs, started to recover today after Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said tariffs on goods from Mexico would be delayed. The peso has regained all of its losses since Friday afternoon.
Mexico’s economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the U.S. economy depended greatly on the plants and industrial complexes that American companies have established in Mexico. He recalled that the chief executive of Ford recently told him that his two most productive plants were in central and northern Mexico.
“It is in the strategic interest of the United States that this integration is not only maintained but grows in the coming years,” Ebrard told reporters.
