Trump Urges Mexico to Honor Water Treaty or Face Possible Sanctions, More Tariffs

The Mexican president responded by saying she was confident an agreement will be reached, noting there has been a three-year drought.

A drone view of Mexico’s El Carrizo Dam, after the U.S. announced it will deny for the first time a request by Mexico to send water through a special delivery channel from the Colorado River to Tijuana, due to shortfalls in Mexico's water deliveries under the water sharing treaty signed in 1944 by both nations, in Tecate, Mexico, March 21, 2025. Jorge Duenes/Reuters

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened Mexico with possible sanctions and additional tariffs unless it delivers water to Texas as required by a 1944 water-sharing treaty.

Trump said that Mexico had violated the treaty, under which it is required to deliver 1.75 million acre-feet of water from the Rio Grande to the United States every five years.

Under the same treaty, the United States is also obligated to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado River to Tijuana, Mexico, each year.

“Mexico OWES Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, but Mexico is unfortunately violating their Treaty obligation,” Trump stated in a Truth Social post.

Trump said that Mexico’s failure to fulfill its treaty obligation hurts Texas farmers “very badly,” citing the closure of Texas’s sole sugar mill last year due to water issues.

To address this, Trump said he had ordered the government to halt water shipments to Tijuana until Mexico complies with the water treaty.

“My Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, is standing up for Texas Farmers, and we will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!” Trump stated.

The president did not specify the sanctions or extra tariffs he plans to impose.

This development comes as Mexico already faces a 25 percent tariff over what the Trump administration regard as its failure to curb fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration into the United States.

In response to Trump’s threat of tariffs over water, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that she has instructed government officials to “immediately contact” the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. State Department to address the issue.

Sheinbaum said that drought conditions in recent years have hindered Mexico’s ability to meet its water delivery requirements.

Mexico has also sent a proposal outlining “short-term actions” to resolve the water-sharing dispute with the United States, she added.

“This has been a three-year drought, and to the extent water is available, Mexico has been complying [with the treaty],” Sheinbaum stated on social media. “I am confident that, as on other issues, an agreement will be reached.”

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs stated on March 21 that Mexico’s “continued shortfalls in its water deliveries” under the treaty were “decimating American agriculture,” particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley.

As of April 5, Mexico has only delivered 512,604 acre-feet of water so far in the current five-year cycle, which is up in October, according to data from the International Boundary and Water Commission, which oversees the U.S.-Mexico water treaty.

Texas Lawmakers

Last year, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act requiring the state secretary to report to Congress annually on whether Mexico fulfills its water-sharing treaty obligations.

The amendment calls for actions if Mexico failed to meet the water delivery requirement, including prohibiting USAID aid to Mexico’s private sector, capping foreign aid to Mexico at 85 percent of appropriated levels, with exceptions only for anti-opioid and synthetic drug programs, and barring U.S. Trade and Development Agency funds for grantees in Mexico.

Cruz stated last month that Mexico’s failure to comply has caused “catastrophic” effects on Texas, adding that he was working with the Trump administration to impose “consequences on Mexico.”

“Every option is on the table, not just withholding aid but also water we have been giving Mexico, which can be done without breaching our own obligations under the treaty,” he stated on March 20.

This comes as the U.S. government denied a non-treaty request by Mexico last month for a special delivery channel for Colorado River water to be delivered to Tijuana, for the first time in over 80 years since the treaty was signed.

Reuters contributed to this report.