Mexican and Canadian officials are increasingly frustrated by tariff negotiations with the Trump government, with a lack of clarity about what the United States wants that makes any resolution look impossible, sources from both countries said to Reuters.
After implementing generalized 25% tariffs on the goods from Canada and Mexico earlier this week, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a one -month pardon for Mexico with an exemption for the automotive sector of North America also in the works.
On Thursday, just after noon of the east, the tariffs remained for Canada.
The intermittent tariffs and high -level discussions around them have exasperated the negotiating teams, according to three Mexican officials and two Canadian sources familiar with conversations.
It’s like “dealing with an angry couple and you don’t know why she is angry,” said a Mexican official. “It is not clear what they want.”
Lee: Sheinbaum is unnecessary to respond with tariffs to US after a new agreement with Trump
The press manager of President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to a request for comments by directing Reuters to the public comment of the president on Thursday.
In a post in X, Sheinbaum said: “We had an excellent and respectful call (…) in the framework of respect for our sovereignty.”
Both the office of the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the White House did not immediately respond to the requests for comments.
Trump based the legal justification of tariffs on the fight against fentanil and illegal immigration, but he and others in his administration often expand the justification to include commercial deficits and protect US industries such as automotive and timber.
Despite the frustration shared by Mexico and Canada, the two countries have adopted different tones in public. Sheinbaum has underlined its respect for Trump and close cooperation with the United States, while Canada has criticized the chaos without surroundings.
Lee: Trump pauses for a month the tariffs to Canada for goods covered by the TMEC
Trudeau said Thursday that Canada will be in a commercial war with the United States in “the predictable future.” The US Treasury Secretary, Scott Besent, described Trudeau as “foolish.”
Trudeau’s Foreign Minister has been even more frank. “We will not exceed this, another psychodrama every 30 days,” said Minister Melanie Joly to Business Leaders in Toronto earlier this week.
“The problem we have had is that it is not clear what the US president wants,” he explained.
“I have had conversations with colleagues in Washington saying: ‘Ok, but after all, what do you want? And I received the answer: ‘We are about to know it’ there is a responsible in the system. He is the only one who knows it, ”he added.
The United States Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, described as “fake news” (false news) and “nonsense” the idea that he did not know what Trump wants in an interview on Thursday with the CNBC.
Trump “calls everyone all the time,” said Lutnick. “I speak with him all the time. It has to be a joke. The president knows exactly what he wants. We know exactly what you want. ”
But Canadian and Mexican officials said that the lack of clarity about demands, as well as uncertainty about whether US government officials in bilateral meetings were really able to comply with what they said, was making discussions incredibly challenging.
Lee: Trump tariffs would rethink investments in Mexico, recognizes SHCP
The scope of the negotiations is not clear, they added, with conversations that sometimes seem to focus on fentanil and on other occasions on migration, while sometimes the approach seemed to be the commercial deficit.
“The United States reasons for tariffs constantly change,” said another Mexican official. “If we cannot identify the problem, we cannot identify the solution.”
With Reuters information
Little text and great information in our X (formerly Twitter), follow us!
