By Brendan O’Boyle
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Mexico ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump “is not justified” because the U.S. runs a steel and aluminum trade surplus with Mexico, Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday.
“Mexico imports more steel from the United States than it exports,” Ebrard said on a press conference alongside Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Trump on Monday raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a flat 25% “without exceptions or exemptions” in a move he hopes will aid the struggling industries in the United States but which also risks fueling a trade war with Mexico, its top trading partner.
Ebrard pointed to a graph, sourced to U.S. Census Bureau data, showing Mexican steel product exports to the U.S. falling since 2022, while Mexico’s imports of U.S. steel grew in the same period, according to the data.
The steel and aluminum tariffs are set to take effect on March 12.
Nearly a quarter of all steel used in the U.S. is imported, and Mexico is among its largest suppliers, along with Canada and Brazil.
Shares in Mexican miners Grupo Mexico and Industrias Penoles were down some 2.7% and 2.6% respectively on Tuesday morning.
Significant global steel producers in Mexico include ArcelorMittal and Ternium.
Ebrard did not say if Mexico planned reciprocal tariffs on steel or aluminum it imports from the U.S.
Mexico is the top destination for U.S. steel product exports, Ebrard said.
The official said he plans to speak next week with the U.S. Commerce Secretary, as well as the U.S. Trade Representative, pending their confirmations, and would make Mexico’s arguments.
In his first term, Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, though Mexico was among the countries later exempted from them.
Trump has already threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on all imports from Mexico, as well as from Canada, saying they must do more to halt the flow of drugs and migrants across the U.S. border. After some border security concessions, Trump paused the tariffs until March 1.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Nick Zieminski)
