President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested on Tuesday that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own, after US president-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25 per cent import duties on Mexican goods if the country doesn’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border.
“One tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put at risk common businesses,” Sheinbaum said, referring to US carmakers that have plants on both sides of the border.
She said she was willing to engage in talks on the issues, but said drugs were a US problem.
Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that Mexico had done a lot to stem the flow of migrants, noting “caravans of migrants no longer reach the border”.
However, Mexico’s efforts to fight drugs like the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl – which is manufactured by Mexican cartels using chemicals imported from China – have weakened in the last year.
Sheinbaum said Mexico suffered from an influx of weapons smuggled in from the United States, and said the flow of drugs “is a problem of public health and consumption in your country’s society”.
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