President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she had “a very good conversation” about trade in a call with United States President Donald Trump, but the two leaders have not yet reached an agreement that could result in the lifting of tariffs on Mexican exports to the U.S.
Sheinbaum said she spoke to Trump for around 10 to 15 minutes at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.
“It was a very good conversation. While there isn’t a specific agreement, the important thing is that we’re working on that,” she told reporters at her morning press conference, which began 90 minutes later than usual due to the call between the two presidents.
“There is a desire on the part of the United States government and on our part to reach even better agreements on trade,” Sheinbaum said.
Steel, aluminum and cars made in Mexico are currently subject to U.S. tariffs, as are other Mexican goods not covered by the USMCA free trade pact. Mexico has been attempting to negotiate better trading terms with its largest trading partner, which has adopted an ardent, yet changeable, “America First” protectionist posture under the leadership of Trump.
Sheinbaum reiterated that the United States’ relaxation of auto tariffs is “beneficial for Mexico,” but stressed that her government wants “even better conditions” for the Mexican automotive, steel and aluminum industries.
“What the United States government is very interested in is reducing the [trade] deficit, which they call the deficit with Mexico,” she said.
Mexico’s trade surplus with the United States increased 12.7% annually to $171.8 billion last year, according to U.S. government data. It was the third consecutive year that Mexico increased its surplus with its northern neighbor.
Trump has cited the United States’ trade deficits with Mexico and Canada as one of the reasons for imposing tariffs on imports from those countries, despite the three nations being signatories to the USMCA free trade pact and having high levels of integration between their economies.
Sheinbaum said that for some time her government has been proposing to look for ways in which Mexico can import more products from the United States across the entire Mexican economy, which would serve to narrow the bilateral trade imbalance.
“In other words, have even more trade … for the benefit of both countries,” she said.
“We agreed to keep working on that,” said Sheinbaum, a strong advocate of North American integration and leader of a government that is seeking to reduce reliance on imports from Asian countries, especially China, as part of the Plan México economic initiative.
She said that high-ranking Mexican and U.S. officials “will continue working these days in order to get even better agreements” on trade.
“So that was the call [with Trump], a very cordial, brief call,” Sheinbaum said.
“It was about 10,15 minutes and we agreed this. It’s a good sign that we’re continuing to make progress in the strengthening of the agreement,” she said, referring to the USMCA, which has been undermined since Trump began his second term in January.
Before her press conference, Sheinbaum said on social media that she had “a very positive conversation” with Trump.
“We agreed that the secretaries of Finance [Edgar Amador Zamora] and Treasury [Scott Bessent], and of Economy [Marcelo Ebrard] and Commerce [Howard Lutnick] would continue working in the coming days on alternatives to improve our trade balance and make progress on outstanding issues for the benefit of both countries,” she wrote.
Neither Trump himself nor the Trump administration immediately commented on the call with Sheinbaum.
Sheinbaum has now spoken to Trump by telephone six times since he won the U.S. presidential election last November. Their most recent previous call was on April 16.
Mexico News Daily
