# Mexico responds to US declaration of economic war **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 2, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765 "2025-02-02T17:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/1 "2025-02-02T17:39:38Z")
The President of Mexico has announced that Mexico will also respond with retaliatory tariffs. She did not yet provide much detail, but says that the tariffs will range from 5% to 20% on a range of goods. Auto industry will initially be exempt. > [@](#): > > In a [lengthy post on X](https://x.com/Claudiashein/status/1885857655094415528), Sheinbaum said her government sought dialogue rather than confrontation with its northern neighbour, but that Mexico had been forced to respond in kind. > > … > “I’ve instructed my economy minister to implement the plan B we’ve been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests,” Sheinbaum posted, without going into detail on what U.S. goods her government will target. > > The United States is by far Mexico’s most important foreign market, while Mexico in 2023 overtook China to become the top destination for U.S. exports. > > Mexico has been preparing possible retaliatory tariffs against imports from the U.S., ranging from 5% to 20%, on pork, cheese, fresh produce, as well as manufactured steel and aluminum, according to sources familiar with the matter. The auto industry would initially be exempt, they said. > **[Mexico orders retaliation to Trump tariffs without detailing targets](https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/mexican-president-orders-retaliatory-tariffs-against-us/)** > > Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Saturday ordered retaliatory tariffs in response to the U.S. decision to slap 25% tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico, marking the apparent start of a trade war between the two countries. > **[Canada and Mexico hit back with retaliatory tariffs on US as Donald Trump...](https://news.sky.com/story/amp/donald-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-canada-mexico-and-china-risking-global-economic-disruption-13301470)** > > The leaders of Mexico and Canada - two of the US's largest trading partners - have responded to the US president's steep taxes on imports. > [@](#): > > “We categorically reject the White House’s slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organisations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory,” Ms Sheinbaum wrote. > > “If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious fentanyl consumption in their country, they could fight the sale of drugs on the streets of their major cities, which they don’t do and the laundering of money that this illegal activity generates that has done so much harm to its population.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/2 "2025-02-02T17:50:09Z")
Politically, Mexican leaders also have little choice but to retaliate against these unjust tariffs. Trump personally signed a treaty with them in 2020 that he is unilaterally abrogating. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/3 "2025-02-02T21:53:12Z")
The phrase “Don’t mud wrestle with a pig” comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/4 "2025-02-02T22:03:34Z")
trump’s sycophants should be asked to defend all this. They all know he’s a capricious asshole, and that there’s really no defense. But it would be nice to get them on the record, so they can eat their words later. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/5 "2025-02-03T06:52:29Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The auto industry would initially be exempt, they said. I think that Mexico is missing a trick here. Retaliatory tariffs are an easy political point, but the harm is primarily internal. You want to target somebody with a loud microphone e.g. US auto. How about Mexico putting an export inspection service (to check for any illicit fentanyl in consignments) for all auto parts destined for the US which will necessarily delay their shipment by say 48 hours. Would cause substantial inconvenience and cost to US auto with the tariff added on top and obviously the additional cost is for compliance with US demands. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/6 "2025-02-03T16:05:58Z")
> [@The United States Declares Economic War on Canada](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/265): > > Mexico seems to be planning a more nuanced approach than Canada. Trump has paused tariffs on Mexico for a month. > **[Trump pauses Mexico tariffs for one month after agreement on border troops](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/03/trump-tariffs-mexico-canada-china-sheinbaum-responds.html)** > > President Donald Trump over the weekend said he was imposing 25% tariffs on good imported from Mexico and Canada, and a 10% tariff on goods from China. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/7 "2025-02-03T17:05:48Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Trump has paused tariffs on Mexico for a month. I’m probably joining with most Mexicans in thinking this is some kind of a trick. Trump really thinks that he can be an American hero by bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. from lower wage countries. And he really thinks he can raise loads of free money from tariffs. So unless the courts call him on his phony emergency declarations, the tariff on Mexican goods is coming. As for fentanyl, he doesn’t care, as shown by the Silk Road/Ross Ulbricht, pardon. He cares about immigration, but not enough to trade a small win for the rest of his dream. So it’s a temporary move to own the libs and prevent a record one day stock market drop. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/8 "2025-02-03T17:12:23Z")
I’ve already suggested this a couple times elsewhere and I’ll suggest it here too. Once the FBI & SEC are fully neutered (they may well be already), then we’ll see a lot of this sort of feint & retract. All the insiders know that on e.g. Tuesday trump will make an announcement that will drop the market 3+%. So they short. Then the announcement hits and the market responds as ordered and they clean house. They also know that on e.g. Fri he’ll make a contrary announcement that will spike the market 3%. So they go long. Then the announcement hits and the market responds as ordered and they clean house. Lather rinse repeat every week-ish for the next 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/9 "2025-02-03T17:48:18Z")
Can’t we plebes capitalize on that, too? I guess we don’t know what he’s going to do in advance, but if we know he’ll soon recind, we can buy on the fall and sell when it’s up. Or, more likely, the market won’t swing as far if the market knows what’s up. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/10 "2025-02-03T18:02:21Z")
We could sure try. But you or I don’t know if they’re going to double-dip before they trigger a rise or what. And of course they can also do sectoral stuff where this month they’re investigating car makers and next month it’s movie studios or … And of course even they don’t control the market; they can be oversized influencers, but other entities may try to get in on the fun too. The laws of unintended consequences start looming real large when you’re trying to stampede Wall Street. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/11 "2025-02-03T20:12:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Can’t we plebes capitalize on that, too? I guess we don’t know what he’s going to do in advance, but if we know he’ll soon recind, we can buy on the fall and sell when it’s up. Or, more likely, the market won’t swing as far if the market knows what’s up. If that’s really his strategy then as a small time investor you wouldn’t be able to capitalize on the short, but you could buy the dip. The other thing that would happen is the sophisticated investors would notice the pattern, and it would stop working. Remember, even below Trump’s billionaire club, there are a surprising number of people with several to tens of millions, and then of course there must be thousands of fund managers working with the money of regular folks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/12 "2025-02-03T20:20:49Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > > [@pulykamell](#): > > > > up. > > If that’s really his strategy then as a small time investor you wouldn’t be able to capitalize on the short, but you could buy the dip. Yeah, that’s what I meant by we couldn’t know in advance what he would do, so we can’t buy ahead of the dip. And then if everyone knew about this, that would price itself into the market. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/13 "2025-02-03T21:29:52Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I’m probably joining with most Mexicans in thinking this is some kind of a trick. One thing the Mexicans have that the Canadians don’t is in dealing with actual criminals and corrupt public officials as part of “normal” politics. Big bluffs and lies is a normal part of their dealings with the opposition. They don’t get easily rattleled and will play along with Trump, letting him think that h is winning. They will use his bluster for their own political game at home. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/14 "2025-02-03T22:55:18Z")
Sheinbaum is a very competent politician and is extremely well liked in Mexico. Bringing 10,000 troops to the border is a real concession and was a good offer on her part. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/15 "2025-02-03T23:30:02Z")
And it was likely something that she wanted to do already but didn’t have the political support to do considering the cartels would have seen this as an act of aggression against them. Now she can say that she was forced to so. The cartels being labeled as terrorist could allow for serious measures being taken with less blame on her side. I would not be surprised to see drone strikes happen in Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/16 "2025-02-03T23:32:03Z")
Don’t worry, I’ve been assured by the maga krew that the Mexican army is in the pockets of the cartel anyway. The victory was supposedly making her jump. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/17 "2025-02-04T00:12:27Z")
Lemme get this straight … Tbe Mexican government is owned by the cartels. The Canadian government is owned by Big Maple Syrup. And the US government is owned by a combo of Putin, insanity, and senility. I wonder if I can swim to someplace safe & sane. Like Cuba. It’s only 90 miles from not far from here. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/18 "2025-02-04T00:22:42Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I wonder if I can swim to someplace safe & sane. Like Cuba. It’s only 90 miles from not far from here. Much too close to the US, which is also Canada’s problem. Cuba has been under American embargo ever since around the time that Ricky Ricardo left and came to America to marry Lucille McGuillicuddy and became a nightclub band leader! 😉 Can you swim to Australia? But they have man-eating spiders. Maybe Mars isn’t such a bad idea after all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/19 "2025-02-04T00:56:52Z")
> [@Zoobi](#): > > Don’t worry, I’ve been assured by the maga krew that the Mexican army is in the pockets of the cartel anyway. The victory was supposedly making her jump. So, Trump just negotiated a deal that put ten thousand terrorists right on the US border? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexico-responds-to-us-declaration-of-economic-war/1013765/20 "2025-02-04T01:02:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I wonder if I can swim to someplace safe & sane. I’m heading to the Philippines asap. Stable but corrupt government, just like we used to be. They speak English, lower relative crime rate than the US, have traditional values and they would gladly welcome and support the establishment of American bases on their soil. I look to them to properly suck up to Trump just the way he likes it, with ass kissing, bribes and beautiful prostitutes for our servicemen. I once thought I’d move to Mexico, but its just too messed up down there to consider living there. I’ll be starting another thread on this soon, so no more hijack.