At the beginning of her Monday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters she was “happy” as the Mexico City-Toluca commuter train, “El Insurgente,” would soon run all the way to the Observatorio station in the national capital, where passengers will be able to transfer to the metro system.
“I recommend that you go and see the Observatorio station; it’s really impressive,” she said.
Sheinbaum rode “El Insurgente” on a trial run between the Santa Fe and Observatorio stations on Sunday. She announced that members of the public will be able to travel all the way to Observatorio from Toluca starting in January.
Construction of the railroad linking the national and México state capitals began more than 11 years ago during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto. The train line began partial operations in 2023.
US tariffs on Mexico won’t increase this week
During her Q&A session with reporters, Sheinbaum said that she spoke to United States President Donald Trump on Saturday, and revealed that they had agreed to extend bilateral negotiations on trade and tariffs by a few weeks, meaning that a slated tariff increase won’t take effect as scheduled.
In July, the United States agreed to suspend for 90 days a planned increase to 30% of its current 25% tariff on non-USMCA compliant imports from Mexico. The 90-day period expires this week, but that deadline is now inconsequential.
Trump said in July that Mexico had “agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,” and noted that his administration would be “talking to Mexico over the next 90 Days with the goal of signing a Trade Deal somewhere within the 90 Day period of time, or longer.”
On Monday morning, Sheinbaum said that negotiations with the U.S. on 54 non-tariff trade barriers were “very advanced.”
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said last week that the negotiations were 90% complete.
Sheinbaum said that she and Trump had agreed to speak again in a few weeks “because we’re practically concluding this issue.”
She said that her call on Saturday with the U.S. president was “brief” and “essentially” limited to trade issues.
In addition to the fentanyl trafficking-related tariffs that apply to all Mexican goods that don’t comply with the USMCA, the United States government has imposed duties on a range of Mexican goods this year, including steel, aluminum and light vehicles.
The USMCA, which Trump has undermined by imposing tariffs on imports from both Mexico and Canada, will be subject to a review process in 2026.
Sheinbaum acknowledges US seizure of Mexico-bound firearms
The president noted that a large quantity of firearms that were destined for Mexico had been seized by authorities in the United States.
Homeland Security Investigations agents in Laredo, Texas, reportedly seized around 400 firearms and arrested a father and son in connection with the attempt to smuggle the weapons into Mexico.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson acknowledged the seizure on social media on Sunday, asserting in the same post that “weapons that will not reach criminal hands.”
Sheinbaum said that the U.S. government had reported that 500 firearms were seized in one “publication,” and 400 in another.
“Today in the [Mexican government] security cabinet [meeting] 500 were shown,” she said.
“There are 500 weapons that were confiscated in the United States,” Sheinbaum stressed.
She noted that her government has been pushing the United States government to do more to stop the flow of weapons to Mexico, where they often end up in the hands of members of notorious drug cartels.
In late September, the Mexican and U.S. governments announced the launch of “Mission Firewall,” a bilateral initiative aimed at disrupting the southward flow of illicit weapons across the Mexico-U.S. border.
Sheinbaum ignores Trump’s latest ‘Mexico is run by cartels’ claim
A reporter noted that Trump recently spoke about Sheinbaum and Mexican drug cartels, and asked the president about a “possible” U.S. “offensive” against criminal groups in Mexico and other Western Hemisphere nations.
The U.S. president told reporters late last week that “Mexico is run by the cartels,” a claim he has made previously.
“I have great respect for the president, a woman that I think is a tremendous woman, she’s a very brave woman. But Mexico is run by the cartels and we have to defend ourselves from that,” he said.
Sheinbaum didn’t respond to Trump’s “Mexico is run by the cartels” claim, but reiterated her commitment to “the defense of our sovereignty” and emphasized her government’s rejection of foreign interventionism in the domestic affairs of any country.
“… We’re never going to agree with an intervention or interference in countries,” she said as a significant U.S. Navy flotilla remains in position off the coast of Venezuela.
“Our constitution and our conviction is very clear. [We’re in favor of] the self-determination of peoples, and any conflict must be resolved through dialogue and peace,” Sheinbaum said.
“That will always be our position,” she added.
The president has previously ruled out the possibility that the United States military could target Mexican cartels on Mexican soil. Earlier this year, the U.S. government designated six of those cartels, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
