It took a single phone call from Mexico President Claudia Seinbaum to make him retreat—at least temporarily—from his threat to , while Canada’s Justin Tridot needed two (phone calls), according to Bloomberg reports. It is a proof of Seinbaum’s ability to “read” the US president, even though she is a leader of her country much less time than Prime Minister Tridot. Unlike the Canadian, her reaction to Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs was not the threat of unleashing a litany of countermeasures. He just kept insisting on cooperation. CORVERSE Her triumph was evident yesterday Monday (3.2.225), when she went on stage for her daily speech to the press smiling. “Did you see the tweet, right?” he asked the crowd of journalists. Shainbaum had announced by post to X that, after telephone communication she had this morning, Trump agreed to postpone by one month the start of the 25% anti-Mexico tariffs. In return, Mexico would send 10,000 members of the National Guard to the common borders of the countries to stop the flow of irregular immigrants and fentanyl, by general admission a small price. Mexican president’s quick success raised the internal political temperature in Canada and set the bar high for Trido to achieve a similar deal at such a critical diplomatic moment. He also set out how the two leaders operate from very different positions of authority. Shinbaum – just 4 months after the start of its six-year term – has a united government behind it, with a super-majority in Congress. Tridot, meanwhile, is on the way out of the country’s leadership. Faced with deep faults in his ruling liberal party, he resigned recently and will remain Prime Minister only until March, when he takes over a new leader. A few hours later, Monday afternoon, Trido secured a deferral of duties. He said Canada would appoint a “charo of fentanyl” and launch a joint action group with the US to tackle drug trafficking and money laundering, as well as strengthening border security. Yesterday, the peso and the Canadian dollar recovered against the dollar. The delays in customs duties also upset business concerns, some of which were quick to cross their goods across the border. Nevertheless, neither Shainbaum nor Trido can declare a complete victory. “The duties will remain like Schredinger’s cat, dead and alive at the same time. We believe the final game is a renegotiation of USMCA, to have a USMCA 2.0,” said Carlos Capistran, chief economist for Canada and Mexico at Bank of America. “That’s when the tariff threat will really end”.
Why does Mexico’s president take a tone in the Trump tariff negotiations?
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