Mexican leader stresses sovereignty, holds off on retaliatory tariff threats

By David Alire Garcia

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's president emphasized connected Tuesday that she volition support her nation's sovereignty and independency but besides prosecute dialog with U.S. President Donald Trump, a time aft helium began his caller word with a flurry of orders, including measures to curb immigration.

In her archetypal comments pursuing Trump's inauguration, President Claudia Sheinbaum noted that immoderate of his archetypal announcements intimately lucifer actions helium took successful his erstwhile term, arsenic she besides sought to reassure Mexicans that she volition strenuously support their interests.

"Regarding the decrees that President Donald Trump signed yesterday, I would similar to accidental the following: The radical of Mexico tin beryllium definite that we volition ever support our sovereignty and our independence," she said, flanked by her overseas and interior ministers.

"It's ever important to person a chill head," added Sheinbaum.

The leftist leader, who took bureau past October, notably refrained from issuing her ain tariff threats connected imports from the United States successful effect to Trump's proposition a time earlier that helium could use an across-the-board 25% work connected Mexican goods opening successful February. Sheinbaum constricted her effect to saying she volition respond "step by step."

In the past, Sheinbaum and her system curate person suggested Mexico would person to retaliate successful benignant if the caller U.S. authorities slapped duties connected its exports.

Around 80% of Mexican exports spell to the United States, the world's biggest economy.

In a effect to Trump's archetypal moves to halt unlawful migration, Sheinbaum said her authorities volition be to the needs of migrants successful a "humanitarian" way, adjacent arsenic she besides pledged to repatriate overseas migrants to their location nations.

She said negotiations, including with Washington, volition find who foots the bill.

Trump is expected to motion much enforcement orders successful his 2nd time successful office, pursuing measures issued connected Monday to designate Mexican cause cartels arsenic violent organizations.

At her regular greeting property conference, Sheinbaum noted that portion Trump signed an enforcement bid declaring amerciable migration astatine the U.S.-Mexico borderline arsenic a nationalist emergency, she volition importune connected respectful relations and debar confrontations.

She besides reiterated that her authorities would question coordination connected information and different matters with its bluish neighbor, and that the USMCA North American commercialized pact is acceptable for reappraisal successful 2026, not earlier then.

The peso concisely reduced its losses during Sheinbaum's much-anticipated remarks to reporters, though the currency aboriginal returned to earlier levels, performing the worst successful a handbasket of planetary notation currencies.

Julio Ruiz, main economist for Mexico with multinational concern slope Citigroup (NYSE:), described Sheinbaum's archetypal absorption to the commencement of Trump's caller word arsenic an effort to abstracted factual actions from governmental rhetoric.

"What Sheinbaum is trying to bash is effort to calm things down," helium said.

"One happening is what's already signed, and different is these casual comments. You person to separate betwixt those 2 things, and I deliberation what she's trying to bash is springiness that connection to the marketplace and to the colonisation successful general."