Washington (AFP) – President-elect Donald Trump said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had agreed Wednesday to “stop” US-bound migration, a claim she was quick to publicly downplay. Both sides described the call positively, despite it following a threat by Trump on Monday to slap a 25 percent tariff on Mexico, prompting warnings by the Mexican government of retaliation.
“Just had a wonderful conversation with the new president of Mexico,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “She has agreed to stop migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border,” he said, implying a shift in policy. Sheinbaum responded quickly to Trump’s remarks, insisting that she had explained Mexico’s current “comprehensive strategy” on migration.
“Thanks to this, migrants and caravans are attended to before they reach the border,” she said on X. “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between government and peoples,” she added. Sheinbaum, who became Mexico’s first woman president in October, had earlier shared brief details of the conversation alongside a picture of her smiling during a phone call.
The two leaders also discussed “strengthening collaboration on security issues” as well as “the campaign we are conducting in the country to prevent the consumption of fentanyl,” Sheinbaum said. On Monday, Trump vowed on social media that one of his first actions upon taking office in January would be to impose tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Mexico and Canada. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page. He also pledged to add a 10 percent tariff on China.
The Republican, who won an election in which illegal migration was a top issue, has vowed to declare a national emergency on border security and use the US military to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented migrants. Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Wednesday some “400,000 jobs will be lost” in the United States if Trump followed through on his threat. He cited a study based on figures from US carmakers that manufacture in Mexico.
– ‘A shot in the foot’ – Ebrard said the tariffs would also hit US consumers hard, citing the US market for pickup trucks — most of which are manufactured in Mexico. The tariffs, the minister said, would add $3,000 to the cost of a new vehicle. “The impact of this measure will chiefly be felt by consumers in the United States… That is why we say that it would be a shot in the foot,” Ebrard told reporters, speaking alongside Sheinbaum at her regular morning conference.
Mexico and China have been particularly vociferous in their opposition to Trump’s threats of a trade war from day one of his second presidential term, which begins on January 20. Sheinbaum has declared the threats “unacceptable” and pointed out that Mexico’s drug cartels exist mainly to serve drug use in the United States. China has warned that “no one will win a trade war.”
During his first term as president, Trump launched full-blown trade hostilities with Beijing, imposing significant tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods. China responded with retaliatory tariffs on American products, particularly affecting US farmers. The United States, Mexico, and Canada are tied to a three-decade-old largely duty-free trade agreement, called the USMCA, that was renegotiated under Trump after he complained that US businesses, especially automakers, were losing out.
© 2024 AFP
