Trump Announces 90-Day Negotiating Period With Mexico
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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said 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 U.S. would continue to face a 25% tariff that the U.S. president has ostensibly linked to fentanyl trafficking. The Republican said that autos would face 25% tariffs, while copper, aluminum and steel would be taxed at 50%.
Trump said that Mexico would end its “Non Tariff Trade Barriers,” but he didn’t provide specifics.
Some goods continue to be protected from the tariffs by the 2020 U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which Trump negotiated during his first term.
BREAKING: President Trump says the US and Mexico have agreed to extend their current tariff arrangement for another 90 days. — The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter)
Census Bureau figures show that the U.S. ran a $171.5 billion trade imbalance with Mexico last year. That means the U.S. 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
