President Donald Trump said Thursday, July 31, that there would be a 90-day negotiating period with Mexico after a call with that country’s leader, Claudia Sheinbaum, as the 25% tariff rates stay in place. Trump, posting on Truth Social, said his phone conversation with Sheinbaum was "very successful in that, more and more, we are getting to know and understand each other."
Trump said that goods from Mexico imported into the US would continue to face a 25% tariff that the US president has ostensibly linked to fentanyl trafficking. The Republican said that autos would face a 25% tariff, while copper, aluminum and steel would be taxed at 50%. Trump said that Mexico would end its "Non Tariff Trade Barriers," but didn’t provide specifics.
Some goods continue to be protected from tariffs by the 2020 US Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA , which Trump negotiated during his first term. But Trump appeared to have soured on that deal, which is up for renegotiation next year. One of his first significant moves as president was to tariff goods from both Mexico and Canada earlier this year.
Census Bureau figures show that the US ran a $171.5 billion trade imbalance with Mexico last year. That means the US bought more goods from Mexico than it sold to the country. The imbalance with Mexico has grown in the aftermath of the USMCA as it was only $63.3 billion in 2016, the year before Trump started his first term in office. Besides addressing fentanyl trafficking, Trump has made it a goal to close the trade gap.