Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during her daily morning press conference on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Photo: Presidencia

By KELIN DILLON

After U.S. President-elect Donald Trump reiterated his commitment to placing 25 percent tariffs on Mexican goods during his first day in office, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (CSP) announced she’d sent a letter to the U.S. federal executive on Tuesday, Nov. 26, asking for his cooperation.

“On January 20, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all the necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 percent tariff on all products entering the United States, and its ridiculous open borders,” Trump posted to social media on Monday, Nov. 25.

Trump’s tariff threat – which he first stated on the presidential campaign trail – is purportedly contingent on Mexico’s ability to curb the flow of migrants, drugs and fentanyl across the two countries’ shared border.

In response, Sheinbaum’s letter highlighted how Mexico’s current migration policies have reduced encounters at the border by 75 percent between December 2023 and November 2024, data backed up by figures from the U.S. Customs and Border Control (CBP).

“Incidentally, half of those who arrive at the border do so through a legally granted appointment by the United States program called CBP One,” read CSP’s leader, which was shown to the public during her daily morning press conference. “For these reasons, caravans of migrants no longer arrive at the border.”

Sheinbaum also put focus on the Mexican Government’s recent seizures of illegal guns and drugs, as well as a pending constitutional reform that would render the manufacturing, distribution and trafficking of fentanyl as a crime without the right to bail.

Still, the Mexican president pointed out that the majority of illegal guns in Mexico are sourced from the United States, that most fentanyl manufacturing products enter North America from Asia, and that the high level fentanyl trafficking would not exist without the extensive demand from the United States.

 “70 percent of the illegal weapons seized from criminals in Mexico come from your country,” continued CSP. “We do not produce the weapons, we do not consume the synthetic drugs. Those killed by crime to respond to the demand for drugs in your country, unfortunately, are provided by us.”

The letter went on to caution that tariffs on Mexican goods would cause inflation and job losses in the United States and Mexico and that retaining positive trade relations is important to the economic well-being of the neighboring nations.

Sheinbaum noted that her government would attempt to negotiate with the Trump administration, but if a compromise cannot be reached, Mexico may place its own tariffs on the United States in return.