Mexico is crediting strong leadership with its exclusion from the Trump administration tariffs announced Wednesday.
Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs established a baseline 10% import fee for goods coming into the United States, and far more for some countries.
But Mexico and Canada will still benefit from the trade pact between their three countries; they’ll continue to be able to export any goods that fall under that treaty tariff for free.
At her daily morning press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that Mexico being excluded from this round of tariffs is because her administration has cultivated a good relationship with the U.S.
“It has to do with the force of our government,” Sheinbaum said.
Her administration had been deep in negotiations with Trump’s team ahead of these new tariffs. Mexico’s president has been enjoying high approval ratings, largely thanks to her ability to negotiate with the U.S.
But Mexico isn’t out of the woods completely on tariffs. A 25% tariff on goods that don’t comply with the USMCA trade agreement remains in effect after Trump’s administration imposed it last month. Trump has also said he would like to renegotiate the trade deal, which could end up meaning tariffs for Mexico and Canada in the future.
To counter all that, Sheinbaum unveiled on Thursday a series of reforms aimed at boosting domestic food and energy production to reduce Mexico’s reliance on imported goods.
