Mexican Response to U.S. Tariffs is Unnecessary: President Sheinbaum
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. X/ @_TereFelipe_
March 6, 2025 Hour: 2:38 pm
‘If the tariffs had remained in place, we would have had to respond,’ she said.
On Thursday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said no retaliation would be necessary against U.S. protectionist measures after reaching an agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump to postpone the 25% tariffs on Mexican products for one month.
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When questioned about the tensions sparked by Trump’s announcement of new tariffs, the Mexican leader asserted that “there is no point in discussing” measures to address this uncertainty “since everything is postponed until April 2.”
On March 4, when the U.S. announced that 25% tariffs on Mexican products would take effect, Sheinbaum said that her response to this protectionist measure would be announced at a mass event in Mexico City’s Zocalo the following Sunday.
“If the tariffs had remained in place, we would have had to respond. That was essentially what I told President Trump when I said, ‘I have to respond to my people because it is my primary duty,’” she said, adding that Mexico must move forward to strengthen its sovereignty and self-sufficiency. To that end, Sheinbaum emphasized the need to increase production in Mexico to boost domestic consumption.
“That will help us not only in terms of growth. For us, it’s not just about growth, it’s about economic development with well-being. We need to produce more here because we also import a lot from other regions,” she said.
The Mexican president explained that her administration would work to promote food and industrial self-sufficiency and to develop the energy sector, as it “will further strengthen” the country.
On Thursday, Sheinbaum and Trump held a phone conversation to discuss the tariff issue. “We had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results within the framework of respect for our sovereignties,” Sheinbaum said.
Currently, Mexico’s main trading partner is the United States, a country to which Mexicans exported approximately US$490 billion in 2023. This figure represented nearly 30% of Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
