Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump of dire economic consequences for both countries from tariffs and suggested possible retaliation following his threat of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
“One tariff will follow another in response and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” Sheinbaum said in a letter to Trump, which she read aloud in a press conference, warning that tariffs would cause inflation and job losses in both countries.
Trump justified the imposition of new tariffs as a way to make the southern neighbor pay for the entry of drugs and the “invasion” of migrants into the United States.
However, according to Sheinbaum, since December of last year, migration entering through the US border has been reduced by 75%, she recalled according to EL PAÍS.
Moreover, she said her administration had shown Mexico’s willingness to help fight the fentanyl epidemic in the US and noted that criminal groups in Mexico were still receiving guns from their northern neighbor.
Hinting at the United State’s responsability in the fentanyl epidemic she wrote: “We do not produce weapons, we do not consume synthetic drugs. Unfortunately what we do have is the people who are being killed by the crime that is responding to the demand in your country.”