Mexican ministers to visit US seeking to avert tariffs

In return, Mexico wants Washington to crack down on the trafficking of firearms in the other direction, saying they end up in the hands of drug cartel members.

In theory, Mexico should be protected against US tariffs by a regional free trade agreement that was renegotiated under Trump.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced the previous NAFTA accord on Jul 1, 2020, is due to be reviewed by July next year.

Sheinbaum recently presented a plan to replace Chinese imports with domestically produced goods – an apparent bid to ease Washington’s concerns that Chinese companies want to use Mexico as a backdoor into the United States.