The Mexican government rejected the increase to 25 % in US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, while announcing that it will consult with its US counterparts on the subject.
Mexico rejected on Tuesday the decision of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to raise up to 25 % the tariffs to foreign steel and aluminum imports, a tax that affects the Aztec nation, a strong exporter of these items.
The Secretary of Economy of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, said that the application of this increase “is not justified” and is a “bad idea”, because USA. It has a favorable balance with respect to Mexico in the trade of these metals and said that there will be consultations with your US counterparts on the subject. He did not talk about retaliatory tariffs.
“It would be a case, if it was imposed as of March 12, very unusual because a rate would be imposing a country that you, the United States, sells more,” Ebrard said at the daily conference that President Claudia Sheinbaum drives in the morning.
Trump raised the tariff rate on aluminum imports from 10 % to 25 %. The first tax was imposed by the Republican president in 2018 to favor the US sector.
The US president emphasized that fixed tariffs will be “without exceptions or exemptions”, a measure with which he intends to help industries in difficulties in the United States, but also runs the risk of triggering a commercial war on several fronts, according to experts.
The measure will be expected to affect Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea, four of the United States allies.
Ebrard said that “that rate is not justified” and is “unfair” taking into account Trump's own considerations, he added.
The Mexican former chancellor explained that his country is the main destination of the exports of total steel products in the United States, which represent 52 % of its global sales, at the end of 2024, and that the surplus is 1.2 million average tons Since 2015.
Trump's action establishes a 25 % tariff on millions of tons of steel imports and aluminum imports that had been entering the United States free of taxes under installments of quotas, exemptions and thousands of products of products.
This announcement occurs a week after 10 % levies agreed for China, and 25 % tariffs for Canada and Mexico that They were suspended until March 1.
(With Reuters information)