Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday said she had reached an agreement with her U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to put a month-long “pause” on imposing a 25-percent tariff on Mexican imports and to immediately reinforce security along the 3,200-km U.S.-Mexico border to stem drug trafficking.
The two leaders reached a series of agreements during a telephone conversation Monday morning, Sheinbaum said on social platform X.
During the discussion, Trump pledged to stem the smuggling of high-powered weapons into Mexico, which the previous Mexican government had demanded to combat the rise in violence from scrime.
“We had a good conversation with President Trump with great respect for our relationship and sovereignty,” said Sheinbaum, adding that teams from both countries will work together on security and trade issues.
Speaking to reporters at the National Palace in Mexico City, Sheinbaum described their conversation as productive and cordial, with Trump stressing the issue of U.S. trade deficit with Mexico.
“I told him that it was not really a deficit, that we had a trade agreement … and that this was the result of being trade partners,” she said.
Trump later confirmed the decision to put off the tariff on Mexican goods for a month while high-level negotiations continue.
On his social platform Truth Social, Trump said he had a “very friendly” conversation with Sheinbaum, in which she agreed to immediately deploy 10,000 Mexican soldiers to the border between the two countries.
The troops aim to curb fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration into the United States, said Trump.
