In response to the imposition of 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum exported by the world to the United States, Marcelo Ebrard , head of the Ministry of Economy in Mexico, described the measure as a “bad and unjustifiable idea,” since the United States exports more to the country than it imports, and he will seek a dialogue with trade authorities in that country, which could take place next week.
At the morning press conference, Ebrard reported that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had asked him to present to the northern neighbor an analysis that demonstrates the benefits of steel trade with Mexico for its economy.
“The instruction I have from President Sheinbaum is, number one, consultations with the new administration to present them with the information we have. The new administration, its Secretary of Commerce ( Howard Lutnick ), has to be ratified this week, because the Senate ratifies him there. Likewise, the head of the USTR ( Jamieson Greer ). Next week I will have personal communication via Zoom, or as determined, with both, to present the arguments in Mexico,” explained the federal official.
He explained that the proclamation that was announced the day before indicates that the tariff will be applied to all countries, “that is the first thing we have to see. It is a general application, it is not an application only to Mexico.”
He recalled that the new measure imposed by US President Donald Trump , which establishes a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, is scheduled to come into force on March 12 .
The Secretary of Economy pointed out that Mexico buys more steel than it sells to the United States, which allows the northern neighbor to have a surplus of six thousand 897 million dollars (mdd) , while with other countries the balance is negative.
In this regard, he gave as an example that the United States has a trade deficit in steel of 9,675 million dollars with Canada , and with China it is almost 14 thousand million dollars .
“We have a surplus, and if it were to be imposed starting March 12, it would be a very unusual case because a tariff would be imposed on a country to which the United States sells more,” Ebrard explained.
Ebrard ruled out a 1,600% increase in U.S. steel purchases from Mexico, as indicated in Trump’s executive order, since in recent years the country has reduced its exports to its northern neighbor.
“It is unfair. According to President Trump’s own arguments, because we have, I repeat, more imports from the United States than exports,” he emphasized.
He said that the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum “are a bad idea” and appealed to common sense and not to destroy what Mexico and the United States have built over the last 40 years.
Regarding the one-month pause on 25% tariffs on various Mexican products, the official said he was waiting for his counterpart’s ratification to begin a dialogue.
“We have conducted a very detailed analysis of what is happening in trade and investment between the two countries in recent years, as well as what should be done, in accordance with what the president has asked us to do. We have a lot of information and, every day, we continue to gather and clarify more details, such as what I mentioned about aluminum,” he added.
In this regard, he considered that “we will arrive at the meeting or the conversation with all the necessary elements,” so, he indicated, they will present arguments in order to persuade and insist on moving forward from this situation. “This is something we already experienced in 2019, so we will persevere and move forward,” Ebrard said.
The day before, Trump announced that he had signed two executive orders to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a rate that will apply to all countries and will affect his trading partners in the region, such as Mexico and Canada.
It is worth remembering that on February 4, Trump was going to implement 25% tariffs on various Mexican products, however, they were paused for a month, after he and Sheinbaum reached an agreement in which Mexico agreed to send 10,000 elements of the National Guard in order to stop the passage of migrants to the northern neighbor and the trafficking of fentanyl.
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