United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem suggested Monday that President Claudia Sheinbaum could reach a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump to avoid tariffs on Mexican goods if Mexico complies with a list of U.S. requests.
During an interview broadcast on Fox News, chief political anchor Bret Baier asked Noem whether she believes Sheinbaum is “doing enough to defeat the cartels down there.”
La secretaria Kristi Noem dijo que dio algunas opciones sobre seguridad a la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum durante su reunión del viernes; calificó a la mandataria mexicana como “extraordinaria”.pic.twitter.com/4E4bHQcFC3
— Joaquín López-Dóriga (@lopezdoriga) April 1, 2025
“You know we talked extensively about that,” said the cabinet secretary, who met with the Mexican President in Mexico City last Friday.
“I gave her some options of more she could do. She’s participated a lot on our southern border, but we want her to secure her southern border with Guatemala,” Noem said.
“We want her to share some more information with us. Right now we don’t scan every single shipment that comes into this country over air freight. We have some information sharing that could happen on criminal background checks so I gave her a list of things that President Trump would be very happy to see and she was remarkable,” she said.
Noem said that her meeting with Sheinbaum was “very productive” and lasted almost two hours, much longer than the scheduled 30 minutes.
“She did sign some of those agreements with us, and I asked her specifically to share biometric information [of migrants] with us and she’s willing to discuss that even though that in her country would be a little bit controversial,” Noem said.
“She’s putting a good faith effort, but President Trump is clear. He doesn’t want people to keep talking, he wants to see action and she has an opportunity to do some things that I will give a report to the president on, and see if we can deal with the tariff situation that may be facing her people,” she said.
The United States has already imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum and imports from Mexico not covered by the USMCA free trade pact. A 25% tariff on imports of vehicles to the United States is due to take effect this week, but U.S. content in vehicles assembled in Mexico will be exempt from the duty, lowering the effective tariff on vehicles made in Mexico.
In addition, the Trump administration intends to soon impose reciprocal tariffs on imports from U.S. trading partners, with an announcement to be made on Wednesday afternoon.
.@PressSec Karoline Leavitt: “On Wednesday it will be ‘Liberation Day’ in America as President Trump has so proudly dubbed it…the president will be announcing a tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been ripping off our country for decades.” pic.twitter.com/igw3zgVRfg
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 31, 2025
“We’re going to be very nice, relatively speaking, we’re going to be very kind,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that “White House aides have drafted a proposal to impose tariffs of around 20 percent on most imports to the United States, three people familiar with the matter said, as President Donald Trump pushes for the most aggressive overhaul of the global economic system in decades.”
Sheinbaum said last week that her government will provide “a comprehensive response” to the United States’ tariffs on April 3, once it knows whether Mexican goods will face additional duties.
“We don’t want to give a response to each issue, but rather a comprehensive response,” said the president, who pledged to “always protect Mexico.”
On Tuesday, she reiterated that her government will wait to see what happens on Wednesday while maintaining dialogue with its U.S. and Canadian counterparts.
Asked at her morning press conference about potential retaliation to additional U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods, Sheinbaum said:
“We don’t believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth because that always leads to a bad situation.”
With regard to Noem’s remarks, Sheinbaum stressed on Tuesday that she did not agree to anything requiring the transfer of biometric data and that she “only responds to the people of Mexico.”
Mexico News Daily
