MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday that she has confidence in this a tariff war with the United States can be prevented.
But her statement – the day after she had a telephone conversation with newly elected US President Donald Trump – did not make it clear who had offered what.
“There will be no potential tariff war,” Sheinbaum said bluntly when asked about the issue during her daily morning news briefing.
On Wednesday, Trump wrote that Sheinbaum had agreed to stop unauthorized migration across the border into the United States. She wrote on her social media accounts the same day that “migrants and caravans are being accommodated before they reach the border.”
But whether that was a promise, a promise or a simple statement of reality remains unclear. In recent years, migrants have been denied permission to cross into Mexico have joined together in caravans to walk or hitchhike north toward the American border, seeking safety in numbers.
Apart from the first caravans in 2018 and 2019 – which were provided with buses to travel part of the way north – no caravan has ever reached the border walking or hitchhiking in a coherent manner.
For years, migrant caravans were often blocked, harassed or prevented from hitching a ride by Mexican police and migration agents. They have also often been arrested or returned to areas near the Guatemalan border. So Sheinbaum’s statement seems to reflect a reality that has been true for some time.
US President Joe Biden said on Thursday he hoped Trump would reconsider his plan impose tariffs on Mexico and Canadaand says it could “ruin” relations with close allies.
“I hope he thinks about it again. I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do,” he told reporters in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Trump had previously threatened to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada until those countries satisfactorily stem illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl into the United States. He also said Chinese imports will face additional 10% tariffs until Beijing cracks down on the production of materials used in making fentanyl.
Despite Sheinbaum’s confidence — she described the phone call with Trump as “excellent” — many Mexicans fear U.S. tariffs could affect a wide range of iconic Mexican products and threaten entire regional economies.
In western Mexico, no crop produces a income for as many small growers as avocadosand Mexico is the main supplier of the fruit to the US market. But avocado growers, pickers and packers worry that, faced with 25% higher prices, American consumers may skip the guacamole.
And earlier this week, Sheinbaum said Mexico was drawing up a list of retaliatory tariffs if Trump were to go ahead with his plans for tariffs.
If Mexico, Canada and China were to face the additional tariffs Trump has proposed on all goods imported into the United States, that could be roughly equivalent to $266 billion in tax collections, a figure that does not assume any disruption to the trade or retaliation of other countries. .
The costs of these taxes would likely be borne by American households, importers, and domestic and foreign businesses in the form of higher prices or lower profits.
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