Mexican President Says Country Is 'Ready' For Trump Tariffs, Has 'Plans A, B, C' To Address Them

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her administration is "ready" if her U.S. counterpart Donald Trump decides to impose 25% tariffs and that the country has "Plans A, B, C" to deal with the matter.

Speaking at her daily press conference, Sheinbaum said her administration will continue engaging in dialogue with its U.S. counterpart but that it also has different lines of action lined up based on Trump's decisions.

"The Mexican people must know that we will always defend the dignity of our people and the respect for our sovereignty and dialogue as equals without subordination," Sheinbaum added.

Trump set February 1 as a deadline for imposing the 25% tariffs unless Mexico and Canada take steps he deems appropriate to to halt flows of unlawful immigrants and fentanyl into the U.S.

"We have seen a historic level of cooperation from Mexico. But again, as far as I'm still tracking, and that was last night talking to the president directly, Feb. 1 is still on the books," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week.

Trump is making the bet that his executive actions can cut energy prices and tame inflation and that the tariffs will strengthen the economy instead of exposing consumers to higher prices, despite economy experts warning tariffs could further raise prices and hurt the economy. At the same time, it remains unclear whether his orders will be enough to foster the growing economy with lower prices that he promised, according to The Associated Press.

The tariffs are set to go into effect less than a week after the standoff between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Angered by how deportees were being sent on military planes and with handcuffs, Petro turned back two deportation flights that were in the air and heading to Colombia. The quick dispute, which resulted in various social media posts, ended with threats of tariffs imposed by the U.S. government. A day later, Petro backed down.

But if tariffs end up being imposed on Canada and Mexico, the stakes would be much higher. The two neighboring countries are among the U.S.' largest trading partners, which along with China, account for over $2.1 trillion in annual imports and exports.

Trump is also threatening to impose 100% tariffs on all members of the BRICS bloc, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa if they seek to create a rival to the U.S. dollar. He had previously said he is considering 10% duties on Chinese goods over the countries role in the smuggling of fentanyl into the country. China produces chemical precursors that make their way to countries such as Mexico where they are synthesized into drugs like fentanyl.