Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico for a month after phone call with Sheinbaum

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has pulled back from imposing additional tariffs on Mexico for a month after a conversation with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum in which she agreed to deploy 10,000 additional Mexican troops to the border with the US.

The tariffs on Canada and China remain in place.

In a post on Truth Social shortly after the call on Monday morning eastern, Trump posted, “It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country.“

Trump said that they had agreed to “immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period”. In this period, he said, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick will negotiate with high-level representatives of Mexico. Trump said he would participate in the talks himself. “I look forward to participating in those negotiations with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a “deal” between our two Countries.”

On X, Sheinbaum said that she had a “good” conversation with Trump on the basis of respect for the bilateral relationship and sovereignty and arrived at a set of agreements. “Mexico will immediately reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the National Guard to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl.”

She said that the US too had “committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico”. Both teams would begin talks on two fronts — security and trade, she added, confirming that the US would pause tariffs for a month.

While Sheinbaum’s statement only mentioned stopping drugs and not immigrants as the reason to deploy additional troops, Trump’s statement mentioned both. And while Sheinbaum’s statement referred to the American commitment to stop the inflow of arms into Mexico, Trump did not refer to it. The gap in the readouts showcase the areas of potential friction that remain.

On Saturday, Trump signed an executive order that said that Mexican drug trafficking organisations (DTOs), also referred to as cartels, were the leading traffickers of “fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and other illicit drugs”, and accused these cartels and the Mexican government of being in an “intolerable alliance”.

“The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of illicit drugs, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims,” the order stated.

Citing this as an unusual and extraordinary threat, Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on all products from Mexico to kick in from February 4, Tuesday. Sheinbaum had threatened retaliatory tariffs.

Trump had imposed a similar additional 25% tariff on Canada. He spoke to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Monday as well but the talks did not yield a breakthrough. Trump posted, “Canada doesn’t even allow U.S. Banks to open or do business there. What’s that all about? Many such things, but it’s also a DRUG WAR, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in the U.S. from drugs pouring through the Borders of Mexico and Canada. Just spoke to Justin Trudeau.“ Trump said he would speak to the Canadian PM again on Monday afternoon eastern.