Taiwo Popoola
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Saturday ordered retaliatory tariffs in response to the U.S. decision to slap 25 per cent tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico, as a trade war broke out between the two neighbours.
Sheinbaum, in a post on X, said her government sought dialogue rather than confrontation with its top trade partner to the north, but that Mexico had been forced to respond in kind.
“I’ve instructed my economy minister to implement the plan B we’ve been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defence of Mexico’s interests,” Sheinbaum posted, without specifying what U.S. goods her government will target.
Urban Express News Online gathered that the United States is Mexico’s most important foreign market, and Mexico in 2023 overtook China as a top destination for U.S. exports.
It was further learned that Mexico has been preparing possible retaliatory tariffs on imports from the U.S., ranging from 5% to 20%, on pork, cheese, fresh produce, manufactured steel and aluminium, according to sources familiar with the matter.
In a post on X, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that Trump’s tariffs were a flagrant violation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
“Plan B is underway. We will win,” Ebrard said.
U.S. exports to Mexico accounted for more than $322 billion in 2023, Census Bureau data showed, while the U.S. imported more than $475 billion worth of Mexican products.
In her post, Sheinbaum also rejected as slander the White House’s allegation that drug cartels have an alliance with the Mexican government, a point Trump’s administration used to justify the tariffs.
Trump said the tariffs against Mexico were due to the country’s failure to stop fentanyl, a deadly opioid, from getting into the United States, as well as what he called uncontrolled migration.
Sheinbaum touted her government’s record since she took office in October – seizing 20 million doses of fentanyl, in addition to detaining over 10,0000 people tied to drug trafficking.
