(Al Jazeera Media Network) Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and her United States counterpart Donald Trump have announced a month-long pause to the sweeping US tariffs that were threatened for exports from Mexico.
Both leaders confirmed the agreement in social media posts on Monday, a day before the tariffs were supposed to come into effect. Sheinbaum was the first to reveal the pause, writing on the platform X.
“We had a good conversation with President Trump with great respect for our relationship and sovereignty,” she said.
She explained that, as a result of their discussion, Mexico would send 10,000 National Guard troops to its northern border to “prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States.”
Sheinbaum added that the US was, in return, working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered firearms to Mexico, which has long strengthened organized crime in the country.
Trump followed with his own announcement, describing the conversation with Sheinbaum as “very friendly” and praising the deployment of Mexico’s National Guard.
“These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country,” Trump wrote. He did not mention any US efforts to stop gun trafficking to Mexico.
The tariff pause staves off — at least temporarily — one front of a brewing global trade war percolated by Trump.
During his 2024 bid for re-election, Trump campaigned heavily on raising tariffs for international goods coming into the US, as a means of bolstering the domestic industry.
After his victory in November, he unveiled a proposal for 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, two of the US’s top trading partners. He argued that the harsh measures were necessary to crack down on undocumented migration and drug smuggling across US borders.
But economists say the tariffs could be the first salvo in an eventual trade war that could hurt consumers in the US and across the world.
Monday’s announcement, however, only delays one of the tariffs set to start on Tuesday.
Canada remains subject to 25% tariffs, though Trump signalled he would be speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later on Monday. Trump has also pledged a 10% increase on tariffs for China.
But the threat of import taxes on foreign goods has led to a politics of brinkmanship between the countries.
For weeks, Mexico has said it was prepared to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US, but it has not gone into specifics.
Canada, meanwhile, has been much more explicit with how it would respond to Trump’s promised tariffs. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would impose 25% retaliatory tariffs on $105 billion worth of US imports.
“I want to speak directly to Americans,” Trudeau said on Saturday. “This is a choice that, yes, will harm Canadians, but beyond that, it will have real consequences for you, the American people. As I have consistently said, tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk.”
His government released a list of 1,256 US items that would be subject to tariffs, including key exports from states with a large proportion of Trump voters. They include oranges from Florida, bourbon from Kentucky, and motorcycles made in Pennsylvania.
The economies of Mexico, Canada and the US are deeply intertwined, with a trade war expected to hit the automotive and agricultural industries particularly hard. Experts have repeatedly warned that increased prices would eventually be felt by US consumers.
Trump himself, in a post on Truth Social, acknowledged there could be domestic blowback to the plan. His administration has broadly framed tariffs as a tool in Trump’s hardline negotiation technique. Trump has also said such tariffs are needed to jump-start US industries.
“Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!),” Trump posted in all capital letters on Sunday.
“But we will Make America Great Again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid.”
In a subsequent post, Trump said that Canada could avoid US tariffs by ceding its sovereignty and becoming “our Cherished 51st State”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/3/trump-sheinbaum-announce-one-month-pause-in-threatened-mexico-tariffs
