Trump folds under pressure, pauses tariffs on Mexico and Canada
The president probably didn’t want to spark a new round of international headlines about him being a “paper tiger,” but that’s precisely what has happened.
Feb. 4, 2025, 8:52 AM EST
By Steve Benen
As recently as Friday, as the White House moved forward with plans to impose tariffs against the United States’ three largest trading partners, a reporter asked Donald Trump if there was any chance his foreign targets could convince him to delay the policy.
“No, no,” the president replied. “Not right now, no.”
A day later, the president announced that he was, in fact, imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico — despite a 2018 trade deal that he helped negotiate, which seemed to prohibit such a move — as well as 10% tariffs on China.
On Sunday, Trump conceded that American consumers might feel “some pain“ as a result of his agenda, and on Monday morning, the major Wall Street indexes showed sharp and immediate declines. Hours later, as NBC News reported, the president paused much of his policy on tariffs.
The impacts of Donald Trump’s long-promised pledge to use tariffs as a political cudgel started to come into focus Monday, even as the president cut last-minute deals with some of the country’s closest allies allowing him to back down from his initial threats.
The first breakthrough of sorts was announced in the morning, when Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that she’d reached a temporary agreement with the Trump administration, in which she’d deploy 10,000 members of the Mexican national guard to the border.
Republicans tripped over each other to suggest Trump had scored a triumph for the ages. “Democrats and members of the media, take note,” House Speaker Mike Johnson boasted online. “President Trump knows how to get results.” Elon Musk added, “At this rate of achievement, not only should President Donald Trump be on Mount Rushmore, I want to personally work the chisel!”
Whether GOP leaders and their megadonors understand this or not, Mexico really just offered Trump more of the same. Indeed, as The New Republic noted, Mexico sent 15,000 troops to the border in 2019, and sent 10,000 again in 2021. Or put another way, Sheinbaum agreed to do what her country has already done in recent years. (Note, when our southern neighbors agreed to do this during Joe Biden’s presidency, it was the result of effective diplomacy, not threats.)
Hours later, the Republican president announced that he was also delaying his plan related to Canada, following a phone meeting in which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as Trump put it, agreed to “implement their $1.3 Billion Border plan.”
Ya sea que los líderes republicanos y sus megadonantes lo entiendan o no, México en realidad solo le ofreció a Trump más de lo mismo. De hecho, como señaló The New Republic, México envió 15.000 tropas a la frontera en 2019 y envió 10.000 nuevamente en 2021. O dicho de otra manera, Sheinbaum aceptó hacer lo que su país ya ha hecho en los últimos años. (Cabe señalar que cuando nuestros vecinos del sur aceptaron hacer esto durante la presidencia de Joe Biden, fue el resultado de una diplomacia eficaz, no de amenazas).
@autentica
Es un presidente debil, no llega a Lider, en la politica se tiene que ser firme. Ahora a él su proposito es beneficiarse de algun acuerdo. No es él quien quiere a Canada y a Groenlandia, es el Muska quien quiere el Lithium de Canada y Groenlandia sin olvidar los minerales radioactivos. A pueto lico ya lo estudiaron no encontraron nada, ahora lo quieren vender a algun pais lo compre por 2 dolares el metro cuadrado. jajajajajajajjajaa