When President Trump got on a phone call with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico on Thursday morning, he was firm: The tariffs were inescapable.
“The tariffs stay,” Ms. Sheinbaum quoted Mr. Trump as saying, recounting the conversation at a news conference hours later.
But the Mexican president pressed her case. She sent Mr. Trump a chart showing a sharp decline in fentanyl seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border and told him that tariffs would make it harder to keep up the security collaboration that was, she said, “delivering results.”
By the end of the call, Mr. Trump relented, agreeing to hold off on tariffs on Mexican goods.
On social media, Mr. Trump announced that at least until April 2, Mexico will not be required to pay tariffs on anything that falls under the main North American trade pact. He later extended the same pause to Canada, reversing the enormous 25 percent tariff he slapped on both countries exports earlier this week.
“We succeeded,” Ms Sheinbaum said.
The decision represented a huge — if temporary — victory for Mexico’s leader and a much-needed reprieve for the country’s sluggish economy.
Ms. Sheinbaum herself acknowledged that there were several forces that may have driven Mr. Trump to retract the measures, citing the business leaders who urged the White House to change course, the negative reaction in U.S. markets and her own country’s progress on fentanyl and migration.
But the delay also reflected the success of Ms. Sheinbaum’s soft-touch strategy in withstanding Mr. Trump’s theatrical attacks and somehow, against significant odds, earning his public admiration.
“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. “Our relationship has been a very good one.”
He added: “Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and collaboration!”
Ms. Sheinbaum’s response was equally warm. “Many thanks to President Donald Trump. We had an excellent and respectful call,” she said in a post on X, promising to continue working together “particularly on migration and security issues.”
Unlike Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, who has responded aggressively to Mr. Trump’s attacks on his country, Ms. Sheinbaum has been more reserved, opting to negotiate quietly through back channels rather than trade public insults.
While Canada and China both quickly announced retaliatory measures after American tariffs hit this week, Mexico held off, refraining from what was seen as a possible provocation while a deal was still possible.
Experts assessing the value of that more subtle approach note that Canada achieved the same reprieve as Mexico. But they acknowledge that Ms. Sheinbaum has been deft to avoid the stinging rebukes Mr. Trump visited on Mr. Trudeau, which would have been an even bigger drag on her momentum as she enters her sixth month in office.
“Her strategy is not to fall into provocations, to be coolheaded,” said Carlos Bravo Regidor, a Mexico City-based analyst. “So far, so good.”
Mr. Bravo Regidor noted that Ms. Sheinbaum had also played well to her domestic audience, continually reminding the public that Mexico prioritized its sovereignty and would not submit to anyone. Her approval ratings have shot higher than 75 percent, polls show.
At the same time, she has seemed to find a way to connect with Mr. Trump at some level.
Ms. Sheinbaum crowed about how “respectful” Mr. Trump is toward Mexico at her Thursday news conference. Mr. Trump called her “a wonderful woman.”
On Wednesday, a day before their phone call, she seemed to have recovered from the initial shock that spread across Mexico after it became clear he was imposing the import duties. She had shifted into crisis mode, calling this a “definitive moment” for the country and drawing a comparison to the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.
She called for patience, suggesting — correctly, it turned out — that things could still change, while urging national solidarity. Earlier in the week, Ms. Sheinbaum had called for a national protest in response to the tariffs in Mexico City on Sunday, when she had also planned to announce Mexico’s response to Mr. Trump’s move.
On Thursday, Ms. Sheinbaum said that the event would still take place, despite Mr. Trump’s latest decision. By then, she was calling it a “festival,” with musical groups.
Miguel Muñoz, the director for Mexico at Geodis, a global logistics company, said that many Mexican exporters had taken a wait-and-see approach this week, taking their cues from the president and “not lifting a finger” before Ms. Sheinbaum’s call with Mr. Trump.
On Thursday, it appeared they were right to do so.
“What the chambers of commerce are applauding,” Mr. Muñoz said, “is the way the president has handled this.”
In Canada, the suspension failed to lift the sense of gloom and the anxious mood of the business community. The announcement came just hours after Mr. Trudeau warned Canadians that the country would be locked into a trade war with the United States “for the foreseeable future.”
“The outcome Canada needs is to not have this looming threat of tariffs,” said Dennis Darby, the president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, an industry group.
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s finance minister, said that following Mr. Trump’s pause, Canada is suspending plans to impose a second round of retaliatory tariffs.
But Mr. Darby noted that the president had offered no assurance that he would halt the separate steel and aluminum tariffs set to be imposed next week. And it remains unclear how exactly Mr. Trump will manage the reciprocal tariffs he’s promised to impose on every country on April 2.
“The threat of tariffs is bad for manufacturing,” said Mr. Darby. “Companies are sitting out on the sidelines on investments and technology because of the threats.”
Doug Ford, the premier of Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, dismissed the suspension. “This whole thing with President Trump is a mess,” Mr. Ford told reporters. “We went down this road before. He still threatens the tariffs on April 2.”
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