Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico for 1 month after Sheinbaum agrees to send troops to border
Washington — President Trump announced he is pausing U.S. tariffs targeting imports from Mexico for a month after the country’s president agreed to send 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to combat the flow of fentanyl and migrants.
Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that he and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum “agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period.” The pause, he said, will allow “negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico.”
The president wrote that he had a “very friendly conversation” with Sheinbaum in which she “agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States.”
“These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Sheinbaum unveiled the details of the deal in an earlier post on X, saying that the U.S. is “committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico” and that “our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade.” She wrote in Spanish that Mexico “will immediately reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the National Guard to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl.”
On Saturday, Mr. Trump signed orders imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada on Saturday, in conjunction with a smaller levy on goods from China. The new tariffs are set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. U.S. markets tumbled in early trading Monday morning amid fears that the tariffs could drive up prices for consumer goods. Mexico and Canada both said they would issue retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, raising fears of a trade war that could stifle economic activity between the U.S. and its neighbors.
Before Mr. Trump announced the pause on Monday, Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, told CNBC that there were “positive conversations that have happened over the weekend, and there are positive conversations that are going to happen between the leaders of these countries, you know, over the next hours.”
“President Trump will then see what people have to offer and then make the call,” Hassett said.
Mr. Trump posted earlier Monday that he spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a phone call Monday morning and would do so again in the afternoon.