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“U.S. President Donald Trump suspended his threat of steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Monday, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighboring countries… Both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they had agreed to bolster border enforcement efforts in response to Trump's demand to crack down on immigration and drug smuggling.” Reuters
Here’s our coverage yesterday of the tariffs. The Flip Side
The left is critical of the deal, arguing that the so-called concessions are just for show.
“Trump’s victory lap on Mexico tariffs is a giant farce… Firstly, the number of Mexican soldiers Sheinbaum is sending to the border is routine. Mexico sent 15,000 troops to the border in 2019, and sent 10,000 again in 2021… [Furthermore] Sheinbaum wrote after speaking with Trump that ‘the United States is committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico’ as part of the tariff deal…
“It seems that Trump left this fairly important detail out of his own verbose [social media] post to keep up the strongman appearances. So Mexico is sending extra troops to the border, as it regularly has in the past, and Trump agreed to shoulder a heavier burden in stopping the flow of American semiautomatic weapons into Mexico. How exactly did Mexico fold to Trump here?”
Malcolm Ferguson, New Republic
Similarly, “Trudeau announced that Trump was postponing the threatened tariffs for 30 days in exchange for… basically nothing. Trudeau agreed to implement a fentanyl control plan, one that he previously announced in December. It’s the Trump three-step: Create a crisis, back off the crisis, announce that you solved the crisis…
“[Trump’s] irrationality on trade is pushing more and more nations into economic alliances that exclude the U.S. He has repeatedly trashed the EU for discriminating against U.S. products. The EU has made its own trade deal with four South American nations. The goal of a common EU-U.S. front against China is up in smoke. And more and more Third World countries are making separate deals with China. This month, Indonesia became the tenth nation to join BRICS, a group led by China that also includes Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa.”
Robert Kuttner, American Prospect
“In fiscal 2024, the U.S.-Canada border accounted for less than 1 percent of all fentanyl seizures and 1.5 percent of all apprehensions of undocumented immigrants at U.S. borders… in Canada’s case there was no problem with border security to begin with…
“No wonder that Canadians ‘are a little perplexed,’ [Trudeau] said on Saturday, ‘as to why our closest friends and neighbors are choosing to target us.’ This, after all, is a country that sent its soldiers to fight alongside U.S. troops from the beaches of D-Day in Europe to the villages of Kandahar in Afghanistan. Canadian TV anchor Adrienne Arsenault says the ‘whole country’ is receiving ‘a lesson in heartache.’…
“Ordinary Canadian sports fans showed their feelings by booing the playing of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at NBA and NHL games over the weekend… Whatever minor concessions Trump might be able to extort from U.S. allies such as Mexico or Canada with his heavy-handed demands are not worth the damage to America’s long-term relationships with those countries.”
Max Boot, Washington Post
The right is pleased that a deal was agreed to.
The right is pleased that a deal was agreed to.
“Mexico bent the knee and caved to President Donald Trump's tariff threats. They agreed to send 10,000 National Guard soldiers to the border to help interdict illegal aliens and drugs from coming across into our country… Justin Trudeau is now reporting that same ‘good call’ that the Mexican president [had] with Trump. Canada will be dispatching 10,000 personnel and tech to the border…
“That's what Trump wanted — to get some action on the issues — and now he has what appear to be some real commitments. He's showing the art of the deal, the power of strength, and that tariffs, in some situations, can carry a lot of weight. It's just that we've had Joe Biden and ineffective leadership for so long, we forget that you can actually not get rolled in deals. This is a pretty amazing win, and so much for the Democrats who were trying to whip up fear over the tariff approach. Hard to argue with success.”
Nick Arama, RedState
“Trump is again using tariffs as [a] negotiating tool to get something he can claim as a victory. We saw it a week ago with Colombia, which knuckled under when Mr. Trump threatened tariffs if it didn’t accept deportation flights from the U.S. We also saw it with Panama, after Mr. Trump threatened to take the Panama Canal back by force. The country has announced it is withdrawing from China’s signature foreign investment program…
“But this kind of pressure is a bit like the nuclear doctrine of mutual assured destruction: If it escalates into all-out war, everyone loses… The tariffs were averted because Ms. Sheinbaum and Mr. Trudeau recognized that, for Mr. Trump, trade negotiations are a giant game of chicken. The best way to limit the damage is to make a deal…
“What makes the tariff threat unique in Mr. Trump’s case is that it runs opposite to his push for freer markets in other areas. Except when it comes to trade, his economic policies are about lowering taxes, unleashing the energy sector, reducing regulation and helping America compete by freeing the economy from government. That was the formula that improved life for ordinary Americans during his first term.”
William McGurn, Wall Street Journal
Some argue, “Trump [had] insisted there was ‘nothing’ his targets could do to avoid America’s economic wrath. It turns out that wasn’t true. The slate could be wiped clean for the low, low price of Mexico’s deploying 10,000 troops to its side of the Rio Grande… [revealing] that his word means nothing…
“It’s odd that Joe Biden managed to secure the same commitment from Mexico without imposing crippling uncertainty on the continent — uncertainty that persists and that businesses bake into their forecasts… Viewed from this angle, it’s entirely unclear what triumph the MAGA movement is celebrating.”
Noah Rothman, National Review
