President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected Donald Trump’s claim that Mexico is “petrified” of drug cartels.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Sheinbaum also said that it is “very unlikely” that the former United States president will impose tariffs on cars or other products made in Mexico if he returns to the White House next January.
Trump said in an interview with Fox News that “Mexico is petrified of the cartels because they’ll take out a president in two minutes.” He also said that U.S. military strikes against Mexican cartels were “absolutely” still on the table.
Asked about the former remark, Sheinbaum said she didn’t agree with it.
“Mexico has made progress in reducing insecurity and we’re going to make more progress,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that under her leadership Mexico would continue to engage in high-level security dialogue with the United States, and that the two countries would “work together” on security issues such as drug and arms trafficking wherever they can.
“We’re going to do it, always defending [Mexico’s] sovereignty,” she said.
Sheinbaum dismisses Trump’s tariff threats
Trump said in March that he would impose a 100% tariff on cars manufactured in Mexico by Chinese companies, and asserted last week that the duty could go as high as 200%.
As things stand, Chinese companies make very few cars in Mexico, but large automakers such as BYD and Chery have plans to open plants here. Trump has also proposed imposing a 10% tariff on all products imported into the United States.
Sheinbaum, who will be sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on Oct. 1, said she considered U.S. tariffs on products made in Mexico “very unlikely.”
She noted that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in a letter he sent to Trump this week, pointed out that if tariffs were imposed on vehicles and auto parts made in Mexico, consumers in the United States would face higher prices when buying a car “because the cost of production in Mexico is lower than the cost of production in the United States for a variety of reasons.”
What Trump says on the campaign trail is one thing and what he will actually do if re-elected is another, Sheinbaum said.
The president-elect said that both the Republican Party candidate and Kamala Harris, who appears almost certain to be the Democratic Party’s nominee, both know the importance of the USMCA free trade pact to North America as a region.
She said said she is “convinced” that whoever wins the presidential election in the United States, “the trade relationship between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada will continue because it benefits North America.”
“It benefits the three nations, it benefits the people of the three countries,” she said.
Sheinbaum to review Tesla’s decision to ‘pause’ Mexico plant
Sheinabaum also responded to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s statement on Tuesday that the electric vehicle manufacturer’s planned “gigafactory” project in Nuevo León is currently “paused” because of the possibility that Trump will impose tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico if he wins the Nov. 5 presidential election.
“We have to look at the issue of Tesla in Mexico. In reality, since the [gigafactory] announcement was made [in March 2023] until now there hasn’t been much progress,” she said.
“We have to look at whether the reason really is the [U.S.] election and what Trump said,” Sheinbaum said. “There could be other reasons,” she added.
López Obrador claimed Wednesday that Tesla “must have another business plan” if it is not planning to go ahead with the gigafactory project in Nuevo León.
“These companies often don’t produce but rather speculate; they make an announcement and do very well on the stock exchanges, the price of their shares goes up and production takes a back seat,” he said.
With reports from Expansión Política, Milenio and Bloomberg Línea
