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President Donald Trump provided an update to Americans on Thursday regarding the tariff situation in Mexico amid negotiations, offering an accommodation to their president but remaining firm on his demand that illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking must stop.
“After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The USMCA refers to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was implemented in 2020 and replaced the previous North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
However, the president included a caveat to this agreement, noting that this would only extend to April 2, 2025, which is the date reciprocal tariffs will be exacted on trade in the United States.
“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum,” Trump explained.
He continued, “Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl.”
On March 4, the president exacted 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, with an additional 10 percent on China. These tariffs were a response to the ongoing drug crisis, according to Trump.
“More than 100,000 people died last year due to the distribution of these dangerous and highly addictive POISONS. Millions of people have died over the last two decades,” he said in a statement last week.
It is unclear if the March 4 tariffs will be re-implemented past April 2, but it may depend on whether Mexico can prove to President Trump that they have done enough to stop the flow of drugs into the United States.
As reported by RSBN, China responded to the March 4 tariffs by announcing a retaliatory 10-15 percent tariff on U.S. agricultural products.
Additionally, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that his country would respond to the president’s tariffs with 25 percent tariffs of their own against $125 billion of American goods.
However, President Trump provided an update on his conversation with Canada on Wednesday, stating that he had spoken to Trudeau but was unsatisfied with the action to halt drug trafficking.
The president wrote, “I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped. He said that it’s gotten better, but I said, ‘That’s not good enough.’ The call ended in a ‘somewhat’ friendly manner!”