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The full text of President Claudia Sheinbaum's response to Trump's tariff threat
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Mexico City, November 26, 2024
Dear President-elect Donald Trump
I am writing to you in response to your statement on Monday, November 25, on migration, fentanyl trafficking, and tariffs.
You are probably not aware that Mexico has developed a comprehensive policy for migrants from different parts of the world who cross our territory and are destined for the southern border of the United States of America. As a result, and according to figures from your country's Border Patrol and Customs (CBP), encounters at the border between Mexico and the United States have been reduced by 75% from December 2023 to November 2024. By the way, half of those who arrive do so through a legally granted appointment by the United States program called CBP One. For these reasons, caravans of migrants are no longer arriving at the border. Even so, it is clear that we must jointly arrive at another model of labor mobility that is necessary for your country and to address the causes that lead families to leave their places of origin out of necessity. If a percentage of what the United States allocates to war is dedicated to peace building and development, the mobility of people will be addressed in depth.
On the other hand, and for humanitarian reasons, we have always expressed Mexico's willingness to prevent the continuation of the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, which is, moreover, a problem of consumption and public health in the society of your country. So far this year, the Mexican armed forces and prosecutors have seized tons of different types of drugs, 10,340 weapons, and arrested 15,640 people for violence related to drug trafficking. A constitutional reform is currently being approved in my country's legislature to declare the production, distribution, and sale of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs a serious crime without the right to bail. However, it is public knowledge that the chemical precursors for the manufacture of this and other synthetic drugs enter Canada, the United States, and Mexico illegally from Asian countries, for which international collaboration is urgently needed.
You are undoubtedly also aware of the illegal arms trafficking that reaches my country from the United States. 70% of the illegal weapons seized from criminals in Mexico come from your country. We neither produce the weapons, nor do we consume the synthetic drugs. Those killed by crime to meet the demand for drugs in your country are unfortunately our responsibility.
President Trump, we are not going to address the migration phenomenon or drug use in the United States with threats or tariffs. These major challenges require cooperation and mutual understanding. One tariff will be followed by another in response, and so on until we put common companies at risk. Yes, common ones. For example, the main exporters from Mexico to the United States are General Motors, Stellantis and Ford Motors Company, which arrived in Mexico 80 years ago. Why impose a tax that puts them at risk? It is not acceptable and would cause inflation and job losses for the United States and Mexico.
I am convinced that the economic strength of North America lies in maintaining our commercial partnership. This way we can continue to be more competitive against other economic blocs. I believe that dialogue is the best path to understanding, peace and prosperity in our nations. I hope that our teams can meet soon.
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo
Constitutional President of the United Mexican States
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