WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has said that sweeping US tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico will proceed as planned when a one-month delay on their implementation expires next week.
“The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The president claimed that the US has “been taken advantage of” by foreign nations on “just about everything,” and reiterated his plan to impose reciprocal tariffs.
“So the tariffs will go forward, yes, and we’re going to make up a lot of territory,” Trump said.
Mexico expects good deal
Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that she expected to reach a “good agreement” with Trump this week to avoid being hit with tariffs.
“We hope to be able to reach an agreement before the end of the week, at the latest on Monday,” Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference.
“I think that there will be a good agreement because until now there has not been a single issue where there is conflict, a problem that cannot be solved,” she added.
Mexican officials are in Washington for talks this week and Sheinbaum said she would speak with Trump again by phone if needed.
Trump signed executive orders on February 1 imposing 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada, as well as 10% duties on Canadian energy.
The president, who has praised the use of tariffs as both a negotiating tool and a revenue source, based the orders on the alleged failures of Mexico and Canada to stop crime and drug trafficking at their respective US borders.
But Trump paused the new tariffs two days later, after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made separate pledges to boost their border-policing efforts.
Trump, announcing the new agreements on Truth Social on February 3, said the tariffs on Canadian goods would be paused for 30 days, while the duties on Mexican imports would be postponed for one month.
He said that during that interval, his administration would engage in negotiations with Mexico and pursue a “final Economic deal with Canada.”
Trump also slapped 10% tariffs on Chinese imports and announced a plan to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on American trading partners.
China has already retaliated with its own targeted tariffs on US imports, stoking fears that a trade war between the two adversarial superpowers could rapidly escalate.
Mexico ask US to repatriate drug lord
Mexico’s attorney general said Tuesday that the country has repeatedly asked the United States to send back drug trafficker Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is wanted in his home country, but has received no response.
Mexico sought Zambada’s extradition “on four occasions,” Alejandro Gertz told reporters, adding that the requests were made before Joe Biden’s presidency ended in January.
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“We have not had a response,” Gertz said, adding that several arrest warrants had been issued for Zambada in Mexico linked to drug trafficking.
The 77-year-old, who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with notorious drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was arrested in the United States last July along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of El Chapo.
The Mexican public prosecutor’s office is investigating the possible crimes of “kidnapping” and “illegal transportation” in relation to the case, Gertz said.
Faced with the possibility of being sentenced to death in the United States, Zambada has also asked Mexico to seek his repatriation.
