US tariffs against EU, Mexico to begin on August 1

The Mexican government said it was informed during high-level talks with US State Department officials on Friday that a letter on tariffs from Trump was coming.

The delegation told Trump officials at the meeting it disagreed with the decision and considered it “unfair treatment”, according to a Mexican government statement.

Sheinbaum, who has sought to avoid directly criticising Trump in the early going of her presidency, expressed a measure of confidence during a public appearance on Saturday that the US and Mexico will reach “better terms”.

“I’ve always said that in these cases, you need a cool head to face any problem,” Sheinbaum said.

With the reciprocal tariffs, Trump is effectively blowing up the rules governing world trade. For decades, the United States and most other countries abided by tariff rates set through a series of complex negotiations known as the Uruguay round. Countries could set their own tariffs, but under the “most favoured nation” approach, they couldn’t charge one country more than they charged another.

The Mexico tariff, if it goes into effect, could replace the 25 per cent tariffs on Mexican goods that do not comply with the existing US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.

With Saturday’s letters, Trump has now issued tariff conditions on 24 countries and the 27-member European Union.

So far, the tally of trade deals struck by Trump stands at two – one with the United Kingdom and one with Vietnam. Trump has also announced the framework for a deal with China, the details of which remain fuzzy.