Mexico Hits Back At US Tariffs: President Sheinbaum Rejects ‘White House Slander’, Imposes Retaliatory Measure

Hours after US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on major American trading partners-including Canada, Mexico, and China-citing a "major threat" from illegal immigration and drug trafficking, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo firmly rejected what she described as the "White House's slander" against her government.

Denouncing the US allegations of criminal collusion within her administration, President Sheinbaum responded by imposing retaliatory tariffs on the United States.

Photo Credit: AP/https://x.com/Claudiashein

"If such an alliance exists anywhere, it is in the United States armories that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups," Sheinbaum asserted, highlighting that this had been "demonstrated by the US Department of Justice itself in January of this year."

"We categorically reject the White House's slander against the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organisations, as well as any intention of intervention in our territory," Sheinbaum stated in a post on X, reacting to the Trump administration's tariff measures.

Mexican President Condemns US Over Fentanyl Crisis

Sheinbaum also criticised the US government for failing to address the rampant consumption of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. She revealed that in just four months, Mexican authorities had seized over 40 tonnes of drugs, including 20 million doses of fentanyl, and had arrested more than ten thousand individuals connected to these networks.

"If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious consumption of fentanyl in their country, they could, for example, combat the sale of narcotics on the streets of their main cities, which they do not do, and the money laundering generated by this illegal activity that has done so much harm to their population," she stated.

Sheinbaum further suggested that the US should launch a large-scale campaign to curb drug consumption and focus on protecting its youth, much like Mexico has done. She pointed out that drug use and distribution were domestic issues within the US and remained a public health crisis that American authorities had failed to properly tackle.

"In addition, the synthetic opioid epidemic in the United States has its origin in the indiscriminate prescription of drugs of this type, authorised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as demonstrated by the lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company," she added.

'Mexico Does Not Seek Confrontation'

Sheinbaum stressed that Mexico had no desire for confrontation, instead advocating for cooperation between neighbouring nations.

"Mexico not only does not want fentanyl to reach the United States, but anywhere. Therefore, if the United States wants to combat criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together in an integrated manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is not negotiable."

Sheinbaum made it clear: "Coordination, yes; subordination, no."

In a move towards diplomacy, she proposed to President Trump the establishment of a working group consisting of their "best public health and security teams."

"Problems are not resolved by imposing tariffs, but by talking and dialoguing, as we did in recent weeks with your State Department to address the phenomenon of migration; in our case, with respect for human rights," she noted.

Sheinbaum also revealed that the widely shared migration graph posted by Trump on social media had actually been created by her team, which had been in continuous communication with his administration.

"I instruct the Secretary of Economy to implement Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defence of Mexico's interests," she stated.

Concluding her remarks, she declared: "Nothing by force; everything by reason and right."