Mexico floats trade retaliation in response to Trump’s tariff threats

By Ari Hawkins | 11/26/2024 01:24 PM EST

The Mexican automotive industry is particularly exposed to a heightened trade conflict with Washington.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum points during the daily morning briefing.

“For every tariff, there will be a response in kind,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a letter to President-elect Donald Trump. Emiliano Molina/ObturadorMX via Getty Images

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government would retaliate if President-elect Donald Trump moves forward with his threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on the country, warning of severe economic consequences for companies operating in both countries.

Sheinbaum unveiled the letter during her daily press conference in Mexico City, which responded to Trump’s plan to slap 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada in an effort to crack down on the flow of migrants and illegal drugs into the United States. Trump also pledged an additional 10 percent tariff on China.

“For every tariff, there will be a response in kind,” Sheinbaum wrote in a letter sent to Trump. The text was released by the Mexican Embassy Tuesday morning, which said the economic fallout of a trade war would harm shared enterprises, particularly automotive companies that operate in both countries.

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“Among Mexico’s main exporters to the United States are General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford Motor Company, which arrived in Mexico 80 years ago. Why impose a tariff that would jeopardize them? Such a measure would be unacceptable and would lead to inflation and job losses in both the United States and Mexico,” she added, according to a translated version of the letter provided by the Mexican Embassy.

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