Threatened US tariffs on Canada, Mexico suspended for a month as talks with China loom

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that tariffs on her country’s exports to the US, announced by US President Donald Trump this weekend, will be put on hold for one month to allow time for new pledges she made to stop illicit drugs crossing the border to be put into place.

Scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday, the 25 per cent tariffs on all Mexican goods will instead be paused after Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 national guard troops on the country’s border with the US.

Sheinbaum also said that US authorities committed to halt the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.

Before speaking with Trump, Sheinbaum said her government would respond to the tariffs with punitive levies of its own on US imports, without providing details on what products would be targeted.

“We had a good conversation with President Trump with great respect for our relationship and sovereignty; we reached a series of agreements,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X. “Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade.”

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Trump to hit Mexico, Canada with 25% tariffs on February 1

Trump to hit Mexico, Canada with 25% tariffs on February 1

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump confirmed that the pause in the tariffs and that Sheinbaum would send troops to the border, which he said was agreed upon in a “very friendly conversation”.