Trump, Mexico's Sheinbaum plan call as tariff deadline nears
(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump and his Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum plan to speak by phone on Thursday morning, according to people familiar with the plans, as a Friday deadline to avoid a 30% tariff nears with no agreement between the US and its largest trade partner.
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Talks between the governments, which saw Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and his negotiating team visit Washington multiple times to meet with Trump's cabinet members, have reached the point where decisions must be taken at the leaders' level, according to the people, who asked not to be identified without permission to speak publicly. Mexico made sincere and potentially persuasive proposals about how to rebalance trade between the nations, they said.
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While officials from both nations have maintained ongoing communication, and Mexican officials have expressed optimism about a possible deal, Trump makes the final decisions, and it's unclear how he views the Mexican proposals, the people said. Mexico has been on the other side of the largest US bilateral trade deficit in recent years after China.
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Sheinbaum met Wednesday with two US congressmen, Democrat Ro Khanna of California and Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska, and the US ambassador to Mexico, Ron Johnson.
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Trump earlier this year imposed a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada, accusing them of insufficient efforts to stop fentanyl trafficking. But the impact has been limited because he exempted goods that qualify for duty-free treatment under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement, or USMCA, negotiated during his first term.
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Trump in a public letter on July 12 made a 30% tariff threat to Sheinbaum, citing an alleged lack of progress in challenging the country's drug cartels. He also this month threatened 35% tariffs on Canada's exports, citing a slew of irritants, including non-tariff trade barriers.
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With the USMCA exception, nearly 83% of US imports from Mexico were exempt from tariffs in May, according to a Bloomberg Economics analysis of data from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. That still leaves about $80 billion in Mexico goods that were subject to higher tariff levels. Overall, the effective average US tariff on Mexico has increased to about 6.6%, up from just 0.2% before Trump began his second term.
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It remains unclear if that exemption would be continued in full or narrowed if Mexico and Canada fail to reach agreement with the US by Trump's self-imposed Aug. 1 deadline, the people said.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday the nation's own talks with the US may not finish by Trump's Friday deadline. Trump and his cabinet have negotiated a slew of tariff agreements with partners ranging from the European Union to Vietnam to Japan.
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