LatinNews Daily - 13 March 2025

*Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has said that the government will wait until US President Donald Trump decides next month whether or not to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican imports in general before responding to the global 25% tariff on steel and aluminium imports into the US which took effect yesterday. On 6 March President Trump suspended 25% tariffs on goods included in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which had taken effect on 4 March, until 2 April. In her daily press conference yesterday, Sheinbaum said that “what we will do, other than meeting with domestic steel and aluminium manufacturers, is wait until 2 April”. She added that “Given that there is a trade agreement and there are no tariffs from Mexico to the US… there shouldn’t be any reciprocal tariffs… so we’ll wait until 2 April and see if they impose tariffs or not… we will reciprocate then in the case of steel and aluminium, or depending on what happens”. Her comments come as Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard is heading up a negotiating team this week in Washington where he met US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick yesterday to discuss steel and aluminium tariffs.