President Donald Trump extended a deadline to increase tariffs on imports from Mexico on Thursday.
An increased duty of 30% was set to take effect on Friday, up from a current import tax of 25%, but Trump says he decided to delay the hike after a “very successful” call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
“More and more, we are getting to know and understand each other,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The complexities of a Deal with Mexico are somewhat different than other Nations because of both the problems, and assets, of the Border.”
Mexico is one of the United States’ top trading partners. Trump has taken aim at trade imbalances between the United States and other countries, and the U.S. buys far more goods from Mexico than it imports into the country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Mexico exported $171.5 billion more in goods to its northern neighbor than it purchased.
Sheinbaum agreed with Trump’s characterization of their talks in a post to X.
“We had a very good call with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow and secured 90 days to build a long-term agreement through dialogue,” she wrote.
White House insiders have said that Trump has no plans to actually allow steep, punitive tariffs to take effect.
“Trump knows the most interesting part of his presidency is the tariff conversation,” an anonymous source shared with Politico earlier this month. “I find it hard to believe he’s going to surrender it that easily. It’s all fake. There’s no deadline. It’s a self-imposed landmark in this theatrical show, and that’s where we are.”
