Mexico And U.S. Reach Agreement To Suspend Tariffs For A Month And Deploy 10K Troops To The Border

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on February 3, 2025. Sheinbaum said February 3, the US has agreed to pause the start of tariffs on Mexican goods for one month, after talks with her counterpart Donald Trump. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP) (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on February 3, 2025. Sheinbaum said February 3, the US has agreed to pause the start of tariffs on Mexican goods for one month, after talks with her counterpart Donald Trump. (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
11:05 AM – Monday, February 3, 2025

President Donald Trump and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Monday that they have agreed to a one-month pause on the imposition of a 25% across-the-board tariff by the U.S. in exchange for concessions on border security by Mexico. During this time, a broader deal will be negotiated. 

As part of the temporary pause, Sheinbaum agreed to reinforce the U.S.-Mexico border with 10,000 personnel from her country’s National Guard to help cut down on fentanyl dissemination and illegal immigration into the U.S., per statements from both presidents. 

The U.S. also agreed to increase efforts to prevent the trafficking of weapons, according to the Mexican president, who had a call with Trump earlier in the day on Monday. 

“I  just spoke with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico. It was a very friendly conversation,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “We will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level representatives from Mexico.”

“I look forward to participating in those negotiations with President Sheinbaum as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two Countries.”

The move comes after Trump ordered a 25% levy on Mexican imports after accusing the neighboring country of failing to meet his demands of addressing the fentanyl and migration situations. 

The tariff was set to come in addition to existing tariffs the U.S. has in effect against Mexico, which had been preparing retaliatory measures. 

Meanwhile, Mexico is currently the U.S.’s largest trading partner, with close to 80% of its exports flowing north. Just 165 of U.S. exports go to Mexico, with almost $775 billion worth of goods being traded between the two nations last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau

“We had a good conversation with President Trump, with great respect for our relationship and sovereignty; we reached a series of agreements,” Sheinbaum said in a statement on X, per a translation.

“Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade,” she added. “They are pausing tariffs for one month from now.”

Additionally, Trump had also ordered a 25% tariff on Canada for fentanyl and the migrant crises and a 10% across-the-board tariff on China. 

However, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled new 25% tariffs on over $106 billion in U.S. goods. 

Canada, China and Mexico are America’s three largest trading partners, totaling almost $1.4 trillion worth of U.S. imports annually. 

In the near future, the Tax Foundation projects that if all three tariffs went into effect that the average U.S. household would see a tax hike of about $830. 

“This will be the golden age of America! Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!). But we will make America great again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid,” Trump acknowledged on Truth Social Sunday.

The president also hinted at hitting European countries with tariffs over the weekend. 

“The UK, but [the] European Union is really out of line,” Trump told reporters on Sunday night. “UK is out of line but I’m sure that one, I think that one can be worked out. But the European Union, it’s an atrocity what they’ve done.”

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11,000 Rounds of 7.62×39 Seized at Mexican Border

SEE: https://www.ammoland.com/2024/11/11000-rounds-of-7-62x39-seized-at-mexican-border; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:
11,100 rounds of 7.62×39 ammunition seized by CBP agents in El Paso on November 5, 2024. Image from CBP

A Mexican man was arrested trying to smuggle 11,100 rounds of 7.62×39 into the United States from Mexico.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working at the El Paso port of entry stopped a 2011 Honda Ridgeline driven by a 32-year-old Mexican national as it crossed the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) international crossing. At the primary screening checkpoint, CBP officers decided to direct the Honda Ridgeline to a secondary screening station, where officers ran the SUV through a low-energy portal scan. It identified possible anomalies hidden in the Mexican vehicle. Last year, the machine was put into service to help identify vehicles trying to smuggle contraband into the country over the Bota international crossing.

After the system showed possible anomalies, a CBP currency and firearms detection canine searched the vehicle and alerted agents to possible hidden contraband. After CBP agents saw a trained detection dog detect something in the vehicle, the CBP officers ran the SUV through a Z-Portal X-ray scanner. A scan showed something hidden in the quarter panel of the Honda Ridgeline.

Usually, the contraband being smuggled into the country from Mexico is drugs, but this time, the Mexican man was not smuggling any illicit substances. The officers would tear apart the vehicle, where they would recover multiple bags containing 11,100 loose 7.62×39 rounds. These rounds are used in such firearms as AK-pattern rifles. Recovering this amount of ammo being smuggled into the country is highly unusual.

“The volume of this seizure is substantial,” said CBP El Paso Director of Field Operations Hector Mancha. “To put this in perspective, CBP officers working in the El Paso area ports seized 15,678 rounds of ammunition in all of fiscal year 2021, 7,224 rounds in fiscal year 2022, and 11,205 rounds in fiscal year 2023.”

The flow of drugs usually runs from Mexico into the United States across the Southern Border. Ammunition, cash, and firearms generally flow south from the United States into Mexico. Last August, CBP officers working the same crossing seized 93,000 rounds of ammunition being smuggled into Mexico for drug cartels to terrorize the United States’ southern neighbor.

CBP officials are withholding the arrested man’s identity and information about who he was working for at this time. However, many assume his employer was one of the many Mexican-based drug cartels. The man was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and will be federally prosecuted for smuggling goods into the United States.

President-elect Trump has promised to fix the border and crack down on smuggling. One of the ideas being floated by the Trump transition team is to designate Mexican drug cartels as narco-terrorist organizations. The change in designation would take the gloves off, allowing the United States to use military assets to fight back against the brutal cartels.

This week, President Trump appointed Tom Homan as the border czar for his administration.

Mr. Homan is the former Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is a hardliner regarding border security. He believes the southern border is too open and pushes for a zero-tolerance policy for illegal crossings. He rose to fame after a legendary exchange with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) over separating families caught trying to enter the country illegally.

Whether President Trump’s changes will make a difference remains to be seen, but until Trump takes office, many expected border crossings to spike.


About John Crump

Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.

John Crump