Mexico Seeks to Avert Trade Tariffs with Trip to US
Mexico’s economy and security ministries are planning a trip to the United States to meet with Donald Trump’s administration to avert trade tariffs, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.
Trump stated on February 3 that he would suspend tariffs on Mexico for one month after Sheinbaum promised to send additional troops to the US border to combat drug trafficking.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch are set to visit Washington this week to resolve lingering issues, according to Sheinbaum.
“I hope, as always, that we will reach a good agreement with the US government,” she said.
Sheinbaum threatened retribution on February 1 after Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican goods, accusing the Latin American country of failing to do more to combat illegal migration and fentanyl smuggling.
Days later, Trump postponed the application of trade tariffs after Sheinbaum agreed in a phone call to send 10,000 extra soldiers to the countries’ shared borders.
In exchange, Mexico wants Washington to crack down on firearm trafficking in the opposite direction, claiming that it ends up in the hands of drug cartel members.
In theory, Mexico should be safe from US tariffs by a renegotiated regional free trade deal under Trump.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which superseded the previous NAFTA pact on July 1, 2020, is set to be reviewed in July of the following year.
Sheinbaum recently presented a plan to replace Chinese imports with domestically produced items, ostensibly to alleviate Washington’s concerns that Chinese firms want to use Mexico as a backdoor into the United States.
