He said that the import duties on Mexico and Canada will be lifted only after illegal immigration and drug trafficking in the US is stopped.
The announcement was initially met with bellicose language from President Sheinbaum, who earlier on Wednesday vowed to retaliate if the US unleashes a trade war.
“If the U.S. imposes tariffs, Mexico will also increase tariffs,” she said of the proposed tariffs, which appear to violate the USMCA trade agreement that Trump himself brokered in 2018 during his first presidency between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mexico’s president said she did not specifically discuss tariffs in her phone call with Trump, but that they touched on immigration and the fentanyl trade — reasons Trump cited for imposing the tariffs in the first place.
She said she assured him that the caravan of migrants he had expressed concern about was “not going to reach the (northern) Mexican border” with the U.S. But she emphasized that “we never had any plans to close the U.S. border.” .
Scheinbaum insisted that the conversation was “very friendly” and that they agreed to “continue our negotiations.”
