President Trump’s tariff threat has spurred a commitment from Mexico to stiffen its northern border but Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is also walking away with a major win for her country: a promise by the U.S. to stem the flow of guns heading south.
While the U.S. complains of drugs surging north, Mexicans have long lamented the so-called “iron river” of guns that are trafficked into Mexico, arming everybody from street hoods to the smuggling cartels that go toe-to-toe with Mexico’s military.
Analysts guess that somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000 guns are bought in the U.S. each year intending to be trafficked into Mexico. And more than 17,000 guns submitted by Mexican law enforcement to the U.S. for tracing in 2023 came back to American sources.
Ms. Sheinbaum said the U.S. will curb that flow of weapons as part of a deal with Mr. Trump that will delay, for a month, the crippling tariffs the American president threatened as punishment for the flow of fentanyl heading into the U.S.
Under the temporary reprieve, Mexico will deploy 10,000 of its National Guard troops to its northern border to try to deter drug trafficking. In exchange, Ms. Sheinbaum said, the U.S. will try to stop the trafficking of firearms into Mexico.
“The United States is committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico,” she said on social media.
SEE ALSO: Mexico pledges 10,000 guards at border in deal to delay Trump tariffs
Mr. Trump, in his own social media post, confirmed the pause on tariffs, saying he had a “very friendly conversation” with his Mexican counterpart.
Over the weekend Ms. Sheinbaum had lashed out after the Trump administration said the Mexican government is in bed with the cartels.
“If such an alliance exists anywhere, it is in the United States armories that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups,” she said.
She pointed to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which last month reported on the massive flow of weapons south across the border.
“Cartels are arming themselves through U.S. trafficking channels,” the Justice Department said.
It identified several specific pipelines for weapons, with one from Arizona into the Mexican state of Sonora being the most prolific.
The department said if the ATF got more money to use in interdiction, it could cut the flow.
“As this report makes clear, increased resources could help ATF expand its operational efforts along the border,” the department said.
Mexico generally has much stricter gun laws than the U.S., including limits on the type and power of weapons. The country has only one official gun store, located on a military base near Mexico City.
But its rate of gun crimes is high compared to most other Latin American nations.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.