Eyder Peralta
Appearances
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
You know, Mexico's president, Claudio Sheinbaum, has always said that Mexico's response will be cool-headed. So this morning, the president came out for her morning briefing. You know, she basically said, everyone, stay calm. We're not going to enact retaliatory tariffs, unlike Canada.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
And, you know, basically, she said these tariffs on aluminum and steel are not a reality, they go into effect in March. And she said, we're going to talk, she got her economy minister out. And he said, look, these economies are too interwined. And so we have to find common sense. And he said,
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
that Mexico is going to wait for Trump's cabinet to get settled and that they just want to have phone conversations. And what the economy minister said is, we're going to explain to Trump just how complicated and impossible this would be for him. And he gave a really interesting example. He said, take a look at pistons, the pistons that go in cars.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
For a car that is made in Michigan, those pistons would be made with US aluminum. But then that same piston goes into Canada and then to Mexico and then back into the US. Sometimes, he said, that piston can cross borders up to eight times. And so they're like, so what are we going to do? Are we going to put tariffs on this piston eight times? What would that do to car prices?
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
What would that do to American consumers? And so I think the bet here in Mexico has been to hope that these economies are so integrated that Trump will eventually back down from tariffs once he thinks about the consequences of them.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
It was exactly the same. And the first tariffs that President Trump announced, he would place 25% tariffs on everything coming out of Mexico. That's a huge deal because Mexico has become the number one trading partner for the United States. So it's billions of dollars on all sorts of things, right? From limes and avocados to computer screens to the cars you drive. Mexico took the exact same tack.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
On the day that President Trump announced those tariffs, Claudia Sheinbaum said, we have retaliatory measures ready, but I'm going to wait to talk to President Trump. That next morning, she talked to President Trump. She came out to the nation and said, these tariffs have been postponed. And this is the playbook, actually, that Mexico used during its first term. And basically, what
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
they've learned, and they've told Mexicans this, right, is that we're not going to take on Trump in the sort of same aggressive manner that he takes with us. And so far, that seems to be working.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
I don't know. I think it's a bit of a sleight of hand. Right now, Mexico is not doing anything that it wasn't doing when Biden was in office. I mean, Mexico, when Biden was in office, had sent troops to the border. It allowed the US to deport non-Mexican migrants to Mexico. You know, we've been hearing a lot about raids and all these military planes shipping migrants back to their country.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
But the Mexican government says that they haven't seen a significant uptick in deportations since Trump took office. So, I mean, in a lot of ways, Mexico's relationship with the United States is the same. They're doing sort of the same things. But what we're getting is a much more aggressive language coming from U.S. leadership.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
And I could be terribly wrong here, Sue, because I hear you on Trump being dead set on tariffs, right? But I think if things do change, between these countries and in this market, it's probably just not going to happen with the swiftness that we've been seeing in these first few weeks of the administration.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
Thank you guys for having me.