BarcelonaUS President-elect Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have opposing versions of their phone conversation on Wednesday. While Trump says he reached an agreement with Sheinbaum to close the border between the two countries, Sheinbaum says she has made it clear to the US president-elect that she is not in favor of closing borders and that her immigration policy is respectful of the human rights
Shortly before the call between the two, the Mexican president had warned that if the United States imposes tariffs on Mexican products, her country could do the same. On Monday, Trump announced tariffs of up to 25% on products from Mexico and Canada and 10% on China. “If there are tariffs from the United States, Mexico will also raise its tariffs,” Sheinbaum said at a press conference on Wednesday, accompanied by his Economy Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, who was betting on an attempt to find solutions through the cooperation Ebrard warned Trump that raising taxes on Mexican products was “a shot in the foot.” Many economists have warned that these tariffs will eventually trickle down to the bottom line for US citizens and raise inflation.
Trump had threatened to raise tariffs on Mexico as well as Canada and China if those governments did not make efforts to stop the arrival of undocumented immigrants and the trafficking of fentanyl, the drug that has fueled an opioid crisis toward united states
After the call this Wednesday between Trump and Sheinbaum, the president posted on the networks that she had had an “excellent conversation” with the president-elect. “We talked about Mexico’s strategy on the migratory phenomenon and I told him that the caravans [de migrants] they don’t get to the northern border because we take care of them in Mexico.” Soon after, Trump made a post on his platform, Truth Social, where he explained, instead, that according to his conversation with Sheinbaum, “Mexico will prevent people from reaches the southern border, effective immediately.” “She has agreed to stop migration through Mexico into the United States, and effectively close our southern border,” Trump said.
This made the Mexican president react, who wrote another message to X to contradict the tycoon: “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples,” she said, adding that she had explained to Trump “the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon, respecting human rights”.
