Mexico City – The presidents of Mexico and the United States said Thursday that punishing new Mexican export tariffs is postponed for 90 days as the two nations continue negotiations about the contentious taxes.
The news of the postponement occurred one day after South Korea announced a commercial pact with the United States and the countries of the world rushed to achieve commercial agreements for Friday, the day the President Trump said that the new tariffs would take effect.
It was the only exception to a deadline that Trump said that he would bring high of strong rates to other important business partners, including Brazil, Canada and India, among dozens of nations that have so far refused to enter the commercial agreements Marco in strict terms established by the President.
This week, Trump wrote on social networks: “The first deadline in August is the first deadline in August: it remains strong and will not run.”
The United States Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, told Fox News the same on Sunday: “There are no more periods of grace. On August 1, the rates are established, they will enter their place.”
But that did not happen, at least not in Mexico. The long -awaited announcement of a delay occurred after Trump and Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum had a morning conversation, the last one of a series of telephone calls in which the Mexican leader urged his US counterpart to not impose more tariffs on their nation: the largest commercial partner of the United States.
Trump called the “very successful” telephone conversation in a publication on its social media platform, adding: “More and more, we know each other and understand each other.” The two American leaders have not yet met in person.
In his morning press conference, a clearly relieved Sheinbaum chose the postponement as a great victory for Mexico. “We have 90 days to continue talking with President Trump,” said a smiling Sheinbaum. “It was a very good agreement. Let's continue where we are.”
In his comments, Trump said many imports from Mexico would continue to face a 25% tariff they have said to force the neighboring nation to reduce the smuggling of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid linked to tens of thousands of deaths in the United States.
Although Trump maintained a 30% planned rate on some Mexican products, he refused to review his existing rate regime, that Mexican officials see as atrocious and harmful to the economy. Trump was firm that Washington would continue to carry the taxes he had already imposed, including the “25%fentanyl rate”. Mexican officials say that their application actions have resulted in a drastic drop in fentanyl traffic.
Also to be retained, Trump said, it would be a 25% tariff on automotive imports and a 50% tax on the imports of Mexico of steel, aluminum and copper. Mexico, said Trump, had agreed to “immediately end” his commercial barriers of non -riders. It was not clear immediately to which policies he was referring to.
Mexican officials seek to reduce or eliminate Trump tariffs in a wide range of goods. These include a 17% rate imposed in mid -July in approximately $ 3 billion in annual tomato exports to the United States.
Sheinbaum said that his “cold head” approach to negotiate with the United States had managed to delay more paralysis rates and at the same time defend “our principles firmly.”
Mexico had managed to negotiate a privileged position in the “new global commercial order” launched by the Trump administration and the protectionist trade of its American counterpart dictated, he said.
“We have the best possible agreement, even compared to other nations,” said Sheinbaum.
This week, Trump has continued to make tariffs a central piece of their foreign policy, using them to express their disgust with allies and adversaries. On Wednesday, he said that the United States would impose 25% tariffs on India's assets. That same day he signed an executive order to place 50% tariffs in Brazil, starting next week.
On Thursday, Trump said that Canada's decision to recognize a Palestinian state would make it more difficult to reach an agreement with the neighbor of the northern United States.
“Guau! Canada has just announced that it is supporting the status for Palestine,” Trump wrote in his social media site. “That will make us very difficult to make a commercial agreement with them. Oh, Canada!”
The Trump administration and the Canadian government have remained in Loggerheads about Trump threats of new rates.
This year's prolonged commercial-Mexico drama has seen the tariff threats again from Trump's scares of a Mexican economic collapse. At all times, Sheinbaum has emphasized the value of the negotiation on confrontation, refusing to return rhetorically by rheating to Trump's verbal provocations.
“President Trump has his own way of communicating,” said Sheinbaum on several occasions.
On Thursday, Sheinbaum emphasized that Mexico had managed to preserve, for now, the North American Free Trade Agreement of 2020, the United States-México-Canadá agreement, signed by Trump during its first term. The pact allows the tax free entry of most Mexican goods in the United States and Canada.
The agreement is a key piece of the Mexican economy. Mexico has become a nation dependent on export in recent decades, and the United States represents more than 80% of exports in the country. The total assets of the United States were negotiated with Mexico exceeded $ 839 billion in 2024, according to US figures.
“T-MEC has been safeguarded,” said Sheinbaum, using the Spanish acronym for commerce, known as USMCA in English. “That is very important.”
McDonnell Reportd from Mexico City and Padilla from Los Angeles. The special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed To this report.
