Mexico will immediately bar migration to US southern border: Trump
The conversation comes one day after the president of Mexico issued a warning to Trump about his intentions to apply a 25 percent tariff on all Mexican exports.
President-elect Donald Trump said on Nov. 27 that he had just spoken with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and that Mexico agreed to prevent illegal immigrants from going to the southern border “effective immediately.”
Trump disclosed in two posts on Truth Social Wednesday evening the conversation with Sheinbaum about tightening the U.S.-Mexico border and working to reduce the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
In response, Sheinbaum said she would work to impose a retaliatory tariff on the United States’ exports into her country.
“One tariff will follow another and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” she said.
The leader also suggested that her administration has indicated Mexico’s willingness to assist in ending the United States’ fentanyl epidemic. Sheinbaum said that illegal border crossings are down while immigrant caravans are no longer crossing the southern border.
Sheinbaum also appeared to put the blame on Americans for consuming the trafficked drugs and American companies for manufacturing the guns that she alleged flow into Mexico and are used by cartels.
“We do not produce weapons, we do not consume the synthetic drugs. Unfortunately, we have the people who are being killed by crime that is responding to the demand in your country,” she said, noting that Chinese companies are blamed for producing fentanyl’s precursor chemicals.
Reuters and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.