Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has, yet again, managed to punt Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff deadline down the road.
“I have just concluded a telephone conversation with the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, which was very successful in that, more and more, we are getting to know and understand each other,” wrote Trump on Truth Social on Thursday. “The complexities of a Deal with Mexico are somewhat different than other Nations because of both the problems, and assets, of the Border,” he continued.
“We have agreed to extend, for a 90 Day period, the exact same Deal as we had for the last short period of time, namely, that Mexico will continue to pay a 25% Fentanyl Tariff, 25% Tariff on Cars, and 50% Tariff on Steel, Aluminum, and Copper. Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,” Trump wrote, without specifying what “Non Tariff Trade Barriers” would be affected.
Sheinbaum now has 90 more days of the current tariff levels to reach a trade deal with the U.S., according to Trump’s post.
Trump had promised Friday, August 1 as the deadline for implementing a 30 percent tariff on America’s southern neighbor and largest trading partner. But despite his assurances that this deadline is a hard one, Sheinbaum has succeeded in negotiating her way out of the ultimatum.
It’s not the first time: In March, Trump delayed tariffs against Mexico and Canada after a conversation with Sheinbaum, calling her a “very wonderful woman.” The deft negotiation on Sheinbaum’s part earned her the nickname of “world’s leading Trump whisperer” from The Washington Post.
As of now, the Friday deadline remains for countries around the world to come to a deal with Trump or risk incurring so-called “reciprocal” tariffs of up to 50 percent. But whether these tariffs will actually go into effect is yet to be seen—and the finance sector doesn’t seem too convinced. Back in April, after the president announced his shocking “Liberation Day” tariffs across the globe, stocks plummeted and many economists promised a recession.
But then Trump backed down, earning his policies the nickname “TACO”: Trump Always Chickens Out. This time, the boy who cried tariffs has yet to strike fear into the heart of the market, with Wall Street investors predicting—well, exactly what just happened.
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