Mexico and US agree to one-month delay on Trump tariffs

MEXICO CITY (CN) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and President Donald Trump agreed Monday to delay Trump’s 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico until at least next month.

As part of the agreement, Mexico will send 10,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and the U.S. will investigate its part in trafficking guns to Mexico.

“Sovereignty is not negotiable,” Sheinbaum said during her Monday morning press conference. “An indisputable factor is the dignity of the people, of the nation and sovereignty. And within this framework, agreements are reached.”

Trump touted the “friendly conversation” he had with Sheinbaum on TruthSocial, his social media platform, and noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others would continue negotiations with Mexico through February.

“I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two countries,” he wrote.

Over the weekend, Sheinbaum defended Mexico in response to Trump’s claim that “Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico.”

“If there is such an alliance anywhere, it is in the U.S. gun shops that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups,” she said in a statement Sunday. She added that “74% of guns used by organized crime in Mexico come illegally from their country’s military industry.”

Sheinbaum also blamed a portion of the U.S. opioid crisis on pharmaceutical companies that legally prescribe synthetic opioids as authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

According to one report, half of all firearms found in Mexico between 2016 and 2022 “for which a source could be identified” were manufactured in the U.S.

Another report states that an estimated 250,000 guns are purchased in the U.S. to be trafficked to Mexico each year. Legal sales are also abundant. In 2020, American arms manufacturer Sig Sauer exported 50,000 pistols to Mexico to be used by Mexico’s National Guard.

Economy Secretary of Mexico Marcelo Ebrard also commented on the tariff situation during part of Sheinbaum’s press conference, stressing the importance of a positive relationship between the three countries who participate in the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

“It is in the strategic interest of the United States that this integration not only continues, but grows in the coming years,” he said during the Monday morning press conference.

Ebrard also congratulated Sheinbaum on reaching a deal with Trump

“What the president achieved today is something totally unusual. If you asked yesterday, you would say, ‘How? This is impossible,’” he said.

Ebrard stated that he will be in contact with Howard Lutnick, nominated as secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, in the coming weeks.

Before Monday’s agreement, Sheinbaum suggested that Mexico would respond to Trump’s tariffs by implementing Plan B, “which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.”

Mexico is the biggest trade partner of the U.S., accounting for nearly 16% of total trade. The two countries are part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement on July 1, 2020.