U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he has succeeded in stopping illegal immigration through Mexico after speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. But Sheinbaum, in turn, said Mexico was already doing its part and would not close its borders.
The two spoke days after Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada and Mexico as part of his plan to combat illegal immigration and drugs.
Trump said Sheinbaum “agreed to stop migration through Mexico.” Sheinbaum, however, said on social media that he told Trump that Mexico was “already taking care” of migrant caravans. “We reaffirm that Mexico’s position is not to close borders, but to build bridges between governments and between peoples,” Sheinbaum added.
Although the issue of the announced tariffs remains unclear, Trump said on his Truth Social account that the “productive” conversation with Sheinbaum involved “effectively closing the southern border.”
Trump seemed to boast about the value of threatening to disrupt trade with import taxes. His first message on social networks shook the financial markets and he was quick to declare victory. Even if the proposed tariffs do not materialize, Trump could tell his supporters that the mere possibility of imposing them is an effective political tool to continue using tariff threats.
Sheinbaum, for his part, wrote on social media that the leaders “discussed Mexico’s migration strategy and I told him the caravans were not reaching the northern border.” [de Estados Unidos]because Mexico takes care of them.
“We also talked about strengthening cooperation on security issues, within the framework of our sovereignty, and the campaign we are leading to prevent the consumption of fentanyl,” he said.
Illegal migration across the border with Mexico has declined in part because the Biden administration has secured greater cooperation from Mexico, the kind that Trump appears to be celebrating.
Arrivals at the US-Mexico border have fallen 40% from the all-time high reached in December. U.S. officials attribute it primarily to Mexican surveillance of rail and highway checkpoints.
Driven by growing pressure from the United States to block the passage of migrants to the north, Mexican authorities have chosen in recent years to round them up throughout the country and send them to southern Mexico, in a strategy considered by experts as an attempt to exhaust migrants.
Neither side has clarified the pricing situation. But its enforcement could fuel rising prices and slow economic growth, which could blow up the trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, concluded in 2020 during Trump’s previous term in the White House.
Trump announced Monday that he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, which would be one of his first executive orders after taking office on January 20. He also proposed an additional 10% tariff on China linked to its exports of materials used in the production of fentanyl.
In announcing his plans, he denounced the flow of fentanyl and immigrants entering the United States illegally, even as apprehensions at the southern border are at a four-year low.
This Wednesday, Trump also announced that he was planning a large-scale ad campaign to explain “how bad the use of fentanyl is,” announcing that he would raise awareness about “how terrible the drug is.” really bad.”
This powerful opioid was developed to treat severe pain caused by diseases such as cancer, but is increasingly being mixed with other drugs in the illicit drug supply. As of September, the United States imported $378.9 billion from Mexico, $322.2 billion from China, and $309.3 billion from Canada.
