President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Tuesday that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own, after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% import duties on Mexican goods if the country doesn’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border.
Sheinbaum said she was willing to engage in talks on the issues, but said drugs were a U.S. problem.
“One tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put at risk common businesses,” Sheinbaum said, referring to U.S. automakers that have plants on both sides of the border.
She said Tuesday that Mexico had done a lot to stem the flow of migrants, noting “caravans of migrants no longer reach the border.” However, Mexico’s efforts to fight drugs like the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl — which is manufactured by Mexican cartels using chemicals imported from China — have weakened in the last year.
Sheinbaum said Mexico suffered from an influx of weapons smuggled in from the United States, and said the flow of drugs “is a problem of public health and consumption in your country’s society.”
Sheinbaum also criticized U.S. spending on weapons, saying the money should instead be spent regionally to address the problem of migration. “If a percentage of what the United States spends on war were dedicated to peace and development, that would address the underlying causes of migration,” she said.
Sheinbaum’s bristly response suggests that Trump faces a much different Mexican president than he did in his first term.
Back in late 2018, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was a charismatic, old-school politician who developed a chummy relationship with Trump. The two were eventually able to strike a bargain in which Mexico helped keep migrants away from the border — and received other countries’ deported migrants — and Trump backed down on the threats.
The fentanyl coming into our country is a greater threat than Russia, Iran, etc. we spend so much money worrying about. I don’t know that Trumps demands are the way to address it but it’s not a manufactured issue.
@JusticeRiceGreen2mos2MO
I did some reporting in Baltimore during a huge murder wave and that year they told me more people were dying from opioids than from gunshots. This stuff is like a war going on.
@DeterminedP0l1cy2mos2MO
Prohibition is undefeated at causing unnecessary deaths in pursuit of an unattainable ideal. Unlike nuclear threats, we can easily make it go away.
@FalconJasmineDemocrat2mos2MO
Don't substitution effects mitigate almost anything you can really do about fentanyl? Much like fruit buyers choosing apples when oranges become expensive, won't these people just opt for other narcotics, especially domestically produced ones like meth?
@5P69887Libertarian2mos2MO
I’m sorry, just a confused Canadian here. What exactly are the numbers regarding illegal entries and/or drug shipments coming from Canada?
@EnergeticLobbyDemocrat2mos2MO
No illegal aliens but alot of drugs come through Canada. Alot actually
@WalrusTaylorRepublican2mos2MO
Trump hitting the ground running with a promise of a 25% blanket tariff on Mexico and Canada for their failure to enforce the border on their side and a 10% tariff on China over fentanyl. Absolutely epic stuff. This is what Americans elected him to do and it's still November.
You realize that this makes anything from Canada or Mexico more expensive for Americans, don't you? For example, Canadian lumber used for American housing will just raise the price of that house in the US.
@Gr4ssrootsCordialSocialist2mos2MO
@PoliticalCharlotteForward2mos2MO
This is Trump negotiating. But, make no mistake; he is serious. He is going to use massive tariffs as a blunt instrument to get Mexico to stop facilitating millions of people literally being shuttled across our border. China is poisoning the world with fentanyl and if they want to persist we are going to devastate their economy.
The man is truly America first. He is a hardline negotiator who doesn't blink. We have a huge non-lethal weapon called the US Market to use, and he is going to use it to extract the best deals possible for US workers, companies, and consumers. And, of course, the establishment that has a different agenda in mind is going to scream bloody murder because the world order that has benefited them so much, to the demise of American workers and our true national security, is about to go down. Let them scream.
@MinorityKittenConstitution2mos2MO
Honestly the stupid crack down on legit Oxy prescriptions caused half this Fentanyl crisis. Break your leg, good luck even getting any pain killers prescribed. So people go to Fentanyl black market instead..
@SenateSeatEverlyVeteran2mos2MO
Following President Trump’s tariff threat, Mexico’s President Sheinbaum says her administration supports combating the U.S. fentanyl epidemic, has reduced border migrant apprehensions, and halted migrant caravans.
It’s amazing how strong leadership can prevent the destruction of our country.
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