Country agrees to send 10,000 National Guard troops to its northern border to stop drug trafficking
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United States President Donald Trump announced a month-long delay on tariffs against Mexico on Monday, after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 Mexican national guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, adding to the uncertainty around a pending trade war.
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“These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country,” said Trump, in a post to social media.
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“We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period during which we will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico.”
On Saturday, Trump announced 25-per-cent tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods and an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, which would come into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday morning. Trump cited the border crisis with Mexico and Canada as reason for the trade action. In response, Mexico vowed retaliatory tariffs and Canada promised a 25-per-cent retaliatory tariff on $155 billion of U.S. goods.
Markets on Monday reacted, with the Dow Jones industrial Average sliding 500 points and global markets also taking a hit.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump spoke with each other Monday morning, with another call scheduled on Monday afternoon. In a post to social media following the conversation, Trump mused about the lack of market access U.S. banks have to the Canadian banking sector.
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“Canada doesn’t even allow U.S. Banks to open or do business there,” said Trump, in a post on social media. “What’s that all about? Many such things, but it’s also a DRUG WAR, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in the U.S. from drugs pouring through the Borders of Mexico and Canada. Just spoke to Justin Trudeau. Will be speaking to him again at 3:00 p.m.”
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The Mexican peso swung sharply into positive territory, reversing earlier losses to trade 0.3 per cent higher Monday morning.
The Canadian dollar also trimmed its declines to trade at 68.54 cents U.S. against the greenback.
The stock market recovered some of their losses. The S&P 500 is now 0.9 per cent lower on the day, compared with 1.9 per cent before the news on Mexico.
• Email: jgowling@postmedia.com
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