Mexico and the U.S. will on Monday begin formal trade talks with a focus on tariffs, Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said after meeting with his U.S. counterpart in Washington, D.C.

Ebrard was dispatched to the U.S. capital after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Mexico.

Trump has also talked of levying a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Mexico.

Calling his meeting with U.S. Acting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “constructive,” Ebrard was optimistic after his “first conversation” in what he called a series of negotiations between the two countries.

Ebrard again emphasized the argument that Mexico imports more steel and aluminum from the United States than it exports to the U.S.

The Trump administration says the tariffs are in response to disloyal trade practices. The U.S. government has accused Mexico of exporting aluminum products to the U.S. that are made from aluminum imported from China and Russia.

Reunión con Howard Lutnick , nuevo Secretario de Comercio de los Estados Unidos : pic.twitter.com/x0p1t2Fm1J

— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) February 21, 2025

In Ebrard’s traveling party were Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, Undersecretary of Trade and Industry Vidal Llerenas and the head of Mexico’s Unit of Productive Development, Ximena Escobedo. Also joining Ebrard for the talks was Esteban Moctezuma, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States.

Lutnick was joined by U.S. Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hasset, director of the U.S. National Economic Council.

Before his trip to Washington, Ebrard told reporters that although the potential steel and aluminum tariffs would be the focus of Thursday’s talks, he hoped to make clear the importance of the country’s bilateral trade relationship.

“Our response will never be rancor or conflict, but rather a continued effort to move forward,” Ebrard said, according to The Associated Press.

Ebrard said he was determined to avoid an escalation and would “put Mexico’s arguments on the table, particularly those concerning the [economic] integration between the two nations.”

Among his proposals to “improve” the existing trade relationship between the two neighbors was the establishment of a working group to iron out their differences.

The U.S. negotiators agreed to start formal talks on Monday, which is just nine days before an agreed-upon pause on 25% tariffs will come to an end. On Feb. 3, Trump agreed to a 30-day suspension of tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada.

The tariffs on steel and aluminum products are scheduled to take effect on March 12.

With reports from Excelsior, El Financiero and the Associated Press