March 6, 2025 (EIRNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump announced today that tariffs on Mexican goods covered under the USMCA Treaty—the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact he negotiated in his first term to replace the NAFTA Accord—will be paused until April 2. That is the day his policy of reciprocal tariffs on imported products from all countries is to go into effect. London’s The Telegraph suggested that this morning’s early U.S. stock market plunge had influenced his decision; President Trump, however, in his Truth Social post, pinned the credit on his discussion with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum this morning. From both Presidents’ accounts, the call went well.
“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. This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for President Sheinbaum,” Trump wrote. “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. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!”
Sheinbaum likewise reported in her daily morning press conference that the two had agreed “to continue collaborating, cooperating on different issues, but at the same time within a framework of respect.” The Office of the Presidency highlighted two points made by Sheinbaum in the discussion: that fentanyl seizures in the United States had dropped by 41.5% in February, largely due to security measures taken by her government (she showed him a graph of this drop, based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection data); and that she had called a rally in Mexico City’s Zócalo for next Sunday, March 9, to inform the Mexican people on where the tariffs stood, and what Mexico would do about it.
