Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Nov. 26 that she would seek dialogue and cooperation with President-elect Donald Trump following his renewed threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods from both Canada and Mexico over illegal immigration and drugs.
Sheinbaum suggested that Mexico would respond with a retaliatory tariff against the United States.
“One tariff will follow another and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” she said, noting that the duties may cause inflation and job losses in both the United States and Mexico.
Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump threatened to issue a 25 percent tariff on goods coming from Mexico if it did not comply with his demands on curbing illegal immigration. On Nov. 25, he warned Mexico and Canada that he would quickly impose tariffs on imports unless they cracked down on illegal immigrants as well as fentanyl and other drugs coming across their respective borders into the United States.
As of September, Mexico is the top U.S. trade partner, representing 15.8 percent of total trade, followed by Canada at 13.9 percent. The United States is also Mexico’s top trade partner.
Sheinbaum said she would also seek a call with Trump and send a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before the president-elect takes office on Jan. 20, 2025.
In her press conference, the Mexican president also appeared to question the necessity of tariffs against Mexico.
“What sense is there” in escalating tariffs, she said at one point, noting that duties would hit U.S.-based auto companies such as Ford and General Motors that have factories in Mexico.
Sheinbaum said her administration had shown Mexico’s willingness to help fight the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, that apprehensions of migrants at the border were down, and that illegal immigrant caravans were no longer arriving at the U.S.–Mexico border.
At another point, she appeared to blame Americans for consuming drugs that are being trafficked across the U.S.–Mexico border. She also appeared to say that U.S. companies are producing guns that she claims are being trafficked into Mexico and being used by cartel members.
“We do not produce weapons, we do not consume the synthetic drugs. Unfortunately we have the people who are being killed by crime that is responding to the demand in your country,” Sheinbaum said.
Trump’s transition team has not yet responded to Steinbaum’s comments. The Epoch Times contacted his campaign for comment on Nov. 25 but received no response by publication time.
In the president-elect’s latest tariff threat on Truth Social, he said the imposed penalty would be in retaliation for illegal immigration as well as crime and drugs spilling across the border.
The president-elect also said that the U.S. neighbors can “easily solve this long simmering problem.”
A report released over the summer found that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been subsidizing the production of fentanyl, which then eventually ends up on the streets across the United States.
Trump said that the “many talks” with the Chinese regime about the issue of fentanyl and drugs being sent to the United States have resulted in no changes.
“We will be charging China an additional 10 percent Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America” unless the CCP follows through on penalizing drug dealers, he said.
