U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum put their planned tariffs on hold Monday for a month to give time for further negotiations, and Mexico said it planned to deploy 10,000 members of its national guard to address drug trafficking.
Trump’s tariffs against Canada and China were still slated to go into effect Tuesday, Feb. 4th, but uncertainty remained about the durability of any deals and whether the tariffs were a harbinger of a broader trade war, as Trump has promised more import taxes to come.
The U.S. and Mexican leaders announced the pause after what Trump described on social media as a “very friendly conversation,” and he said he looked forward to the upcoming talks.
As a condition ahead of the talks, Sheinbaum laid out changes in border policies, and Trump confirmed Mexico’s deployment of troops.
“Mexico will reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the National Guard immediately, to stop drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, in particular fentanyl,” Sheinbaum posted on X. “The United States commits to work to stop the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.”
Both Canada and Mexico had plans to levy their own tariffs in response to U.S. actions, but Mexico is holding off for the moment.
Financial markets, businesses and consumers are trying to prepare for the possibility of the new tariffs. Stock markets opened with a modest selloff, suggesting some hope that the import taxes that could push up inflation and disrupt global trade and growth would be short-lived.
But the outlook reflected a deep uncertainty about a Republican president who has talked with adoration about tariffs, even saying the U.S. government made a mistake in 1913 by switching to income taxes as its primary revenue source.
Mexico is facing a 25% tariff, while Canada would be charged 25% on its imports to the United States and 10% on its energy products. China is facing a 10% additional tariff due to its role in the making and selling of fentanyl, the Trump White House said.
On Sunday, Trump said that tariffs would be coming soon on countries in the European Union. He has discussed tariffs as both a diplomatic tool on national security issues, a way to raise revenues and a vehicle for renegotiating existing trade pacts.
Multiple economists outside the administration have warned that the tariffs would push up prices and hamper growth, with Trump himself saying there would be some short term pain after having campaigned last year on the promise that he could tame inflation.
Edited from CBS8
U-T: San Diego’s border industry ‘thankful’ for tariff delay but preparing for the worst
It also looks like the Canadian tariffs are on hold, as Trudeau (sp?) and Trump have just announced a deal to provide for joint beefed-up enforcement of the northern border.
/s/ Chris Kennedy
Isn’t the Donhole just jockeying to keep US fentanyl production in the Epstein wing of the Mar-A-Lago basement (and out of the grubby paws of China)?
This whole thing is a joke. Trump is making it sound like he’s some sort of magical deal maker. In reality, Mexico isn’t giving anything they haven’t done in the past. They sent 10,000 of their troops to the border in 2021 under Biden. Canada had already committed to spending 1.3 billion dollars on the border months ago. The only thing Canada added was a new “border czar” which, let’s be honest, whoopie. Just my opinion, but I think someone talked to the Orange Menace and finally convinced him that this whole charade was tanking the stock market and going to raise consumer prices significantly and that he better somehow back down while trying to save face. His cult followers and Faux News will eat that crap up.
Hey thanks, and gracias for filling in some of the blanks … but, it is not a joke. A distraction maybe, but when you combine all of it together, definitely not a joke.