The US president, Donald Trump, and his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, have announced a one-month “pause” in threatened US tariffs after what Sheinbaum described as a “a good conversation” between the two leaders.
The US president upended ties between the countries over the weekend when he announced the 25% levies and accused Sheinbaum’s administration of engaging in an “intolerable alliance” with Mexican crime groups.
The Mexican president rejected that “slanderous” accusation, but on Monday morning struck a softer note as she announced “a series of agreements” with Trump.
Mexico had agreed to send 10,000 members of its national guard “to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the US, in particular of fentanyl”. In return, the US had agreed to work to prevent high-powered weapons crossing the border into Mexico. The tariffs – which had been scheduled to come into force on Tuesday – would be paused for one month as a result, Sheinbaum added.
Trump confirmed the deal shortly afterwards on his Truth Social network. He said he had held a “very friendly conversation” with Sheinbaum, and that she had agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican soldiers on the border between Mexico and the US. He said they would be “specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our country”.
He said the tariffs would be paused for a month during negotiations involving senior Mexican officials, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick. “I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two Countries,” he added.
Speaking at her daily press conference in Mexico City, Sheinbaum told reporters that, at the end of 30-45 minute conversation with Trump, she had joked with him that she would like to see tariffs suspended “for ever”. However, she believed a one-month reprieve represented a good deal and painted the agreement as a win for both sides.
“In Mexico we have rocket launchers that come from the US illegally … How can these high-powered weapons get into Mexico from the US?” Sheinbaum asked, hailing Trump’s apparent commitment to fight gun smuggling as part of the agreement.
Trump made no mention of guns made in the US in his announcement about the pause.
