By Diego Oré
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday she does not believe the United States will impose tariffs on Saturday as President Donald Trump has pledged, but said her administration has its own response plan in place if needed.
The statement comes after the White House doubled down on possible 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada. Trump has vowed to impose the tariffs if the two neighbors do not do more to control migration and the flow of drugs across their shared borders with the United States.
“We don’t think it’s going to happen,” Sheinbaum said at her regular morning press conference. “And if it does happen, we also have our plan.”
In what Mexico sees as the unlikely event that the U.S. does implement tariffs against its largest trading partner on Feb. 1, Mexico is prepared to impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Retaliatory tariffs would initially exempt the automotive industry, the sources said, sparing what has become Mexico’s most important manufacturing sector and one that is closely integrated with the United States.
“Mexico is ready to apply retaliatory tariffs of 5%, 10%, 20%,” said one of the sources, a Mexican government official.
“However, we are still in constant dialogue because the effects would hit both countries, jobs on both sides of the border will be put at risk,” the sources added.
U.S. and Mexican officials have held talks since Trump returned to the White House on Jan. 20, the sources told Reuters, with Mexico attempting to show it is doing enough to combat drug trafficking and northbound migration.
The retaliatory tariffs would most likely be on pork products, cheese, apples, grapes, potatoes, cranberries and Bourbon whiskey, as well as manufactured steel and aluminum, the sources said.
“Mexico has chosen these products because they have a big impact on regions that voted overwhelmingly for Trump,” said the second source, who has knowledge of the government plans.
Since taking office, Sheinbaum has intensified a historic crackdown on migrants traveling to the U.S. border, detaining a record 475,000 migrants between October and December, and has accepted non-Mexican deportees from the United States.
Her government has also seized a record 1,100 kilograms of illicit fentanyl, introduced new tariffs against some Asian products and confiscated counterfeit Chinese goods in several Mexican cities.
Mexico has warned that tariffs on Mexican goods could kill 400,000 U.S. jobs and drive up prices for U.S. consumers.
(Reporting by Diego Ore; additional reporting by Raul Cortes; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Leslie Adler)
