The president puts the ball in Washington’s court
Claudia Sheinbaum does not mince words: if Donald Trump insists on maintaining the tariffs, let the United States explain whether or not there will be bilateral agreements. This is what he said this Friday morning, after Marcelo Ebrard confirmed what many already smelled—the damned taxes are not going away.
“We are interested in maintaining the trade agreement in the three countries because it has given us many advantages to the three countries, and it is the best way to compete with other regions of the world”
Nice statement, but the trick here is in what it doesn’t say. The president recognizes that there are things that depend on Mexico and others on the neighbor to the north. Translation: We are ready to negotiate, but the ball is on the other side.
The business community already smells the coffee
Meanwhile, José Medina Mora, of the Business Coordinating Council, lets out a little gem: the negotiations are “tougher” because they are based on the premise that tariffs will not disappear. American officials—according to him—say that Trump does not want to leave the USMCA, but he is not interested in free trade either. What a contradiction.
“We know that it is part of the negotiation”
That does sound like resignation with a tie. But hey, at least Ebrard is still ahead with his economic team juggling to make the best possible out of this mess.
