MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (Fidencio Casillas and Pietro D. Pitts, Energy Analytics Institute, 2.Feb.2025) — The 25% tariff proposed by US President Donald Trump on all Mexican imports into the US will affect both countries, according to Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. But, in particular the tariff will have serious consequences for the US economy, as it will dramatically increase the cost of all products exported from Mexico to the US.
It will add 25% to the cost, Sheinbaum said 2 Feb. 2025 during her mañanera or daily briefing with the media.
For 30 years, this hasn’t happened because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed between the US, Canada and Mexico. The most recent free trade agreement, which replaced NAFTA, the US Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), was signed by former Mexico president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also known as AMLO, and Trump during his first presidential term.
The tariff proposal announced by the US government stems from claims from Trump that fentanyl entering the US from Mexico is causing illnesses and deaths among US citizens owing to overdoses, Sheinbaum said.
The tariff proposal also had a link to efforts by Mexico to stop illegal immigration of Mexican as well as other nationalities that transverse Mexico to arrive at the Mexico-US border where many enter and many others are detained or die trying to reach the US.
“But what is even more irresponsible – utterly irresponsible – is that the White House has issued a document claiming there are links between the Mexican government and organized crime,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum said the illnesses and deaths in the US have links to criminal groups in the US; thus, if the “US wants to take action it shouldn’t focus on Mexico but on their own country, where they have done nothing to stop the illegal sale of this and other drugs.”
“First of all, we categorically reject the defamatory claims made by the White House accusing the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any attempts to interfere in our territory. Sovereignty is non-negotiable. If such alliances exist anywhere, they exist in the US gun shops that sell high-powered firearms that are exclusively for military use to these criminal groups,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum said documents published on 8 Jan. 2025 by the US Department of Justice, which oversees the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, acknowledged that 74% of guns used by organized crime in Mexico come illegally from the US’ military industry.
In just 4 months, Sheinbaum said her government has seized over 40 tons of drugs, including 20 million doses of fentanyl, while it has arrested over 10,000 people connected to these groups in Mexico.
“We have a strategy, we are addressing the root causes, and we are fighting impunity. We are working every day to ensure the country’s security. Now, if the US government and its agencies want to address the severe fentanyl crisis in their country, why don’t they start by cracking down on drug sales in the streets of their major cities?,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum continued: “How is it that people with addictions can buy these drugs? Why have we never heard of arrests of US criminal groups in the United States? How is it that money laundering by criminal groups there is not investigated? Why don’t they put all their intelligence to work to find the criminal groups that are selling fentanyl or other drugs in their territory? They could also launch a large-scale campaign to prevent drug use and protect their young people, as we do in Mexico. The drug use and distribution is taking place in their country, and is a public health crisis they have never addressed. Why don’t they ask themselves about the root causes behind so much drug use for so long in the United States?”
Regarding the tariffs and stem causes, Sheinbaum remained stern in her responses, saying that Mexico was willing to cooperate with the US under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration, and respect for sovereignty.
“Sovereignty is non-negotiable. Coordination, yes; subordination, no. With this goal, I proposed to President Trump that we establish a working group with our best teams — both in security and public health. Problems are not solved by imposing tariffs, but through discussion and dialogue, as we have done,” Sheinbaum said.
“I tell you that your president is here for you. We have courage and determination, but, as I have said before, we must always act with a cool head and love for our people,” Sheinbaum said.
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By Fidencio Casillas reporting from Mexico City with assistance from Pietro D. Pitts in Houston. © 2025 Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.