President Trump threatened on Monday to impose an additional 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods over a long-running water dispute, reigniting diplomatic tensions that had flared earlier this year over water shortages in the borderlands.
In a social media post, Mr. Trump accused Mexico of failing to provide more than 800,000 acre-feet of water — or more than 260 billion gallons — under a 1944 treaty mediating the distribution of water from three rivers, the Rio Grande, the Colorado and the Tijuana. The president said that Mexico needed to “release 200,000 acre-feet of water before December 31st, and the rest must come soon after.”
The threat was the latest aggressive action that Mr. Trump has taken against some of America’s biggest trading partners. In October, Mr. Trump raised the nominal tariff rate for Canadian products to 35 percent from 25 percent, and he has also threatened to raise Mexico’s tariff rate to 30 percent from 25 percent. If Mr. Trump follows through on his threat for an additional water tariff, tariffs on Mexican products could increase to a maximum of 35 percent — though most imported goods from Canada and Mexico have duty-free exemptions.
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has acknowledged that her country had fallen short of its treaty commitments, saying that a yearslong drought had significantly hindered the country’s ability to provide the full amount of water the agreement called for. Ms. Sheinbaum’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rising temperatures and long droughts have made water more scarce, making the water from rivers Mexico and the United States share all the more valuable.
When Mr. Trump threatened in April to raise tariffs over the issue, Ms. Sheinbaum took a conciliatory stance: She immediately transferred some of Mexico’s water reserves and agreed to give the United States a larger share of the flow of water from the Rio Grande through October.
At the time, much of the Mexican borderlands were enduring extreme drought conditions, and the country’s water reserves were at historic lows. Now the drought has subsided, and a strong rainy season has replenished much of Mexico’s water reserves.
But Mexican farmers have pressed their government to oppose further concessions to the United States in what has been a yearslong dispute over the countries’ shared rivers. In 2020, tensions over water sharing exploded into violence, and Mexican farmers seized control of a dam in the border region in an effort to shut off water deliveries to the U.S.
Mexican farmers and their supporters have blockaded commercial shipping at the border in protest over water rights. In Juárez, farmers recently blocked some 7,000 trucks loaded with car parts and other goods from crossing into the United States, according to local officials.
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega contributed reporting from Mexico City.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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