Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum gestures as she speaks about U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies during a press conference at the National Palace, in Mexico City, Mexico January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Henry Romero | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Monday said he is pausing for one month his new 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico after that country’s president agreed to immediately send 10,000 soldiers to the U.S. border to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico.
Trump in a social media post said that during the pause “we will have negotiations” on the tariffs “headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico.”
“I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President [Claudia] Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two Countries,” Trump wrote.
The announcement of the pause came two days after Trump slapped 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as a 10% tariff on goods imported from China.
U.S. stocks, which had opened trading lower Monday, regained most of those losses on news of the pause.
Trump in his Truth Social post said that he and Sheinbaum spoke Monday morning ahead of the announcement of the pause.
Both he and Sheinbaum said that the 10,000 Mexican National Guard troop that she is sending to the border with the U.S. will have the mission of halting drug trafficking from Mexico, particularly that of the deadly opioid fentanyl.
Trump also wrote that the Mexican troops will aim to stop the flow “of migrants into our Country.”
Scott Bessent and Marco Rubio arrive ahead of the 60th inaugural ceremony where Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president on January 20, 2025, in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC.
Ricky Carioti | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Sheinbaum first disclosed the pause in a post on the X social media site.
“We had a good conversation with President Trump with great respect for our relationship and sovereignty; we reached a series of agreements,” Sheinbaum wrote in the tweet, according to a translation from Spanish.
She also wrote, “The United States is committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.”
Trump had not mentioned a commitment to stem the flow of weapons in his Truth Social post about his conversation with Sheinbaum.
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