MEXICO CITY (AP) — Threats from newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump to impose tariffs have led to a rift between Canada and Mexico, after Canadian officials said issues with the two countries’ borders should not be compared.
On Monday, the Mexican president rejected these comments, which were made following a meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“Mexico must be respected, especially by its trading partners,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said after Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman told The Associated Press on Sunday that “the message that our border is so completely different from the Mexican border was really understood.”
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Sheinbaum said Canada has its own problems with fentanyl consumption and “just wishes they had the cultural resources that Mexico has.”
Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico unless they stem the flow of migrants and drugs.
Migrant flows and drug seizures at the two countries’ borders are vastly different.
U.S. Customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared to 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Mexico’s efforts to seize fentanyl before it reaches the U.S. have been lackluster.
Most of the fentanyl that reaches the U.S. — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually — is made by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia.
On the immigration front, the U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone, while only 23,721 arrests were made at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024. During the same period, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 1.53 million encounters with migrants at the southwestern border with Mexico.
Mexico is particularly hurt by the Canadian comments because Mexican officials say their government has fought for Canada in the past. They allege that during his first term, Trump initially wanted to leave Canada out of the 2018 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement, and Mexico demanded it be included. It is unclear whether that was actually the case.
Trudeau also beat Sheinbaum to the punch by first meeting the U.S. president-elect. Both leaders are doing their utmost to gain some certainty before Trump comes to power.
Hillman said Canada is ready to make new investments in border security and there are plans for more helicopters, drones and law enforcement. She also noted an agreement between Canada and the U.S. that allows migrants caught crossing the border illegally to be sent back to Canada. She said Mexico and the US do not have a similar agreement.
On Monday, Sheinbaum revealed more about her own conversation last week with Trump, saying he “agreed” that Mexico wanted to focus on intelligence sharing in the war on drugs, noting that “he said that to his opinion was good.”
But she said Mexico would reject any direct U.S. intervention in Mexico and would continue to enforce the severe restrictions her predecessor imposed on U.S. law enforcement agencies in Mexico. “It will stay that way,” she said.
