In Mexico, Donald Trump's new customs threat no longer causes panic

"I already have some experience with these things," said Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, ironically, in response to the letter sent to her by President Donald Trump on Friday, July 11, informing her that his government will impose a 30% tax on imports of Mexican products starting August ¹ .

The head of state of the United States' main trading partner is indeed well-versed in the exercise: since Mr. Trump's return to power on January 20, his administration has made 12 announcements of customs duties directly or indirectly targeting Mexico, including ultimatums, targeted attacks on certain products – steel, aluminum, and tomatoes, in particular – and last-minute about-faces.

In his thirteenth announcement, Donald Trump justified the tariffs by the trafficking of fentanyl, the synthetic opiate responsible for an epidemic of overdoses in the United States. "Mexico is not doing enough," he asserted in his letter to Claudia Sheinbaum, whose government has arrested and handed over dozens of drug traffickers to the United States government, and has increased fentanyl seizures, managing to reduce smuggling of this drug to the neighboring country by 40% in a few months.

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