Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday 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, adding 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 Monday, 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 United States’ top 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 news 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, Sheinbaum 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,” she said.
Trump’s transition team has not yet responded to Steinbaum’s comments. The Epoch Times contacted his campaign for comment on Tuesday but received no response by publication time.
In the president-elect’s latest tariff threat on Truth Social, he said that the imposed penalty would be in retaliation for illegal immigration as well as crime and drugs spilling across the border.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump wrote on the platform. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
The president-elect added that the United States’ neighbors can “easily solve this long simmering problem.”
In another post on the platform, Trump said China would also face higher tariffs on imports until it can prevent the flow of drugs into the United States. Companies in China have long been blamed for manufacturing precursor chemicals for fentanyl, an opioid that has led to a rash of fatal overdoses in recent years across the United States.
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.
In late October, the Department of Justice indicted eight Chinese companies for the alleged manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl precursors, with U.S. officials accusing them of having “openly advertised their ability to thwart border officials.”
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.
Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times