Sheinbaum will give a “comprehensive response” to Trump’s tariffs

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, said that she will give a comprehensive response to the US tariffs, after her counterpart Donald Trump announced tariffs of 25% on cars and light trucks starting next week.

“On April 3rd we will be giving a comprehensive response to what Mexico is going to do in this situation and that does not mean closing the doors to working with the United States,” Sheinbaum said.

During her morning conference, the prime minister said that the new taxes will impact the global automotive industry, although Mexico and Canada will have different conditions thanks to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“Car importers under the US, Mexico and Canada agreement will be given the opportunity to certify their US content and systems will be implemented so that the 25% tariff only applies to the value of their non-US content,” Sheinbaum explained.

Sheinbaum Pardo emphasized that the US measure, which comes into force on April 3, is in addition to other recent tariff measures in sectors such as steel and aluminum.

“We are always going to protect Mexico, the jobs generated here and Mexican companies,” she said, emphasizing the defense of the country's economic sovereignty.

For his part, the Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, who participated in the conference remotely from Washington, highlighted that the Mexican government has held several meetings with the US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and the Office of the Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, to negotiate a preferential treatment for Mexican products.

“President Sheinbaum's main request is that we take care of employment and jobs, income and our economic activities in Mexico. The automotive industry and the auto parts industry are very important. It is enough to have the figures clear: we export almost 3 million vehicles to the US and we have, or supply, 40% of all the auto parts consumed here,” said Ebrard Casaubón.