The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, declared this Wednesday that he had managed to end illegal migration through Mexico after speaking with the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum. But Sheinbaum, in turn, said that Mexico is already doing its part and will not close its borders.
The two spoke a few days after Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada and Mexico as part of his plan to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.
Trump said Sheinbaum “agreed to stop migration through Mexico.” Sheinbaum, however, indicated on social media that he told Trump that Mexico is already “taking care” of the migrant caravans. “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders, but to build bridges between governments and between peoples,” Sheinbaum added.
While the issue of the announced tariffs remained unclear, Trump said on his Truth Social account that the “productive” conversation with Sheinbaum entailed “effectively closing the southern border.”
Trump seemed to brag about the value of threatening to disrupt trade with import taxes. His initial post on social media shook financial markets and he was quick to claim victory. Even if the proposed tariffs fail to materialize, Trump could tell his supporters that the mere possibility of them is an effective political tool to continue resorting to tariff threats.
Sheinbaum, on the other hand, wrote on social media that the leaders “discussed Mexico’s strategy on migration issues, and I told him that the caravans are not reaching the northern border.” [de Estados Unidos]because Mexico is taking care of them.”
“We also talked about strengthening cooperation on security issues, within the framework of our sovereignty, and the campaign we are carrying out to prevent the consumption of fentanyl,” he said.
Illegal migration across the border with Mexico has declined in part because the Biden administration secured greater cooperation from Mexico, the kind that Trump appears to be celebrating.
Arrivals at the US-Mexico border have dropped 40% from the all-time high reached in December. U.S. authorities attribute it mostly to Mexican surveillance on railroads and highway checkpoints.
Driven by growing pressure from the United States to block the passage of migrants north, in recent years Mexican authorities have chosen to corral them throughout the country and send them to southern Mexico, in a strategy considered by experts as an attempt to wear out migrants.
Neither party clarified the tariff situation. But its application could fuel rising prices and slow down economic growth, which could blow up the trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico that was closed in 2020 during Trump’s previous time in the White House.
Trump said Monday he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders after taking office on Jan. 20. He also proposed an additional 10% tariff on China tied to its export of materials used in the production of fentanyl.
In announcing his plans, he railed against the flow of fentanyl and immigrants crossing illegally into the United States, even though apprehensions at the southern border have been at four-year lows.
This Wednesday, Trump also published that he plans a large-scale advertising campaign to explain “how bad fentanyl use is,” announcing that he would educate people about “how really bad the horror of this drug is.”
This powerful opioid was developed to treat severe pain from ailments such as cancer, but has increasingly been mixed with other drugs in the illicit drug supply. As of September, the United States has imported $378.9 billion from Mexico, $322.2 billion from China and $309.3 billion from Canada.
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