Like Colombia the week before, Mexico has avoided—at least for now—being hit with tariffs from the United States after complying with President Donald Trump’s demands.
After speaking with Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum posted to X that the tariffs would be delayed for one month from Monday, thanks to various agreements.
The tariff delay comes thanks to the promise that Mexico will immediately deploy 10,000 members of its National Guard to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, with a particular focus on fentanyl, according to Sheinbaum.
However, the agreement is not one-sided, as Sheinbaum said the United States has also committed to curbing the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.
“Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade,” she said.
The tariff delay comes just one day before they were set to take effect in Mexico. Canada faces a similar outstanding threat, with tariffs subject to be placed on 25 per cent of Canadian imports on Tuesday.
Canada has threatened retaliatory tariffs in response.
Trump said that during the one-month pause with Mexico, the countries will negotiate to achieve a “deal” with one another. Trump praised Sheinbaum and his “friendly conversation” with her, in which they agreed to solve the border crisis with additional soldiers.
“These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our country,” wrote Trump on Truth Social.
Colombia similarly dodged tariffs before they were implemented. Trump threatened the country with 25-per-cent tariffs, which escalated to 50 per cent before they succumbed to his demands to let military planes carrying Colombians deported from the U.S. land, and the threat went away altogether.
The threat of tariffs remains for Canada and China. The latter is only threatened with a 10-per-cent tariff, whereas Canada faces a 25-per-cent looming threat.
Trump said the tariffs were implemented due to the threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing Americans, once again singling out fentanyl.
“We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all. I made a promise on my campaign to stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our borders, and Americans overwhelmingly voted in favour of it,” said Trump.
He said that he has already spoken with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once today. Without getting into the specifics of the first meeting, Trump said another meeting will follow at 3:00 pm.
“Canada doesn’t even allow U.S. banks to open or do business there. What’s that all about? Many such things, but it’s also a DRUG WAR, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in the U.S. from drugs pouring through the borders of Mexico and Canada,” said Trump.
While Trudeau hasn’t commented on the meeting either, he released a video on X celebrating the historic partnership between Canada and the United States.
“If President Trump wants to usher in a new golden age for the United States, the better path is to partner with Canada, not punish us,” said Trudeau.
