President Donald Trump’s tariff threat against Mexico for failing to comply with the Water Treaty is a “strategy” to break the bilateral agreement between both nations on water matters, said this Wednesday the president of the Water Advisory Council, Raúl Rodríguez.
“It is a strategy by President Trump to try to eliminate the treaty, because the treaty is 100% beneficial for us. We are only obliged to share a third of the water in the home, and they obviously do not like that,” said Rodríguez at an event organized together with the UNAM Water Network.
In the opinion of this civil organization, the White House is trying to “break” the Water Treaty between Mexico and the United States signed in 1944, for which it resorts to the threat of imposing 5% tariffs for the 986.4 million cubic meters that, according to Trump, the neighboring country owes it for the debt accumulated over the last five years.
In this sense, the Water Advisory Council pointed out that Trump’s plan is similar to the one he used in trade matters with other nations such as China, which is why they applauded the “correct posture” of President Claudia Sheinbaum, to “put first” domestic water consumption and national productive activities.
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Even so, they acknowledged that there are breaches in the agreement that the Government must resolve by “allocating volumes of water” to deliver to the United States, something in which they acknowledged the country has been “delayed.”
If this does not occur, the experts warned that this would mean “permanent pretexts for them to pressure us,” so they urged the authorities to generate an “efficient model” that allows compliance with bilateral agreements.
Trump threatened on Monday to impose a 5% tariff on Mexico if it does not release by December 31 the 246.6 million cubic meters of water pending according to the Treaty, which since 1944 has regulated the management of the Colorado, Bravo and Conchos rivers, which cross both nations.
In his daily press conference, Sheinbaum showed his confidence that both nations will be able to reach an agreement in the ongoing negotiations, which are now in their second day.
“I am confident that we are going to reach an agreement. In any case, how should the Government of Mexico act? Well, complying with the treaty, but also defending the interests of the people of Mexico and the nation,” stated the Mexican president.
Under the 1944 treaty, the United States must send 1.85 billion cubic meters from the Colorado River annually to Mexico and Mexico 2.185 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande in five-year cycles.
With information from EFE
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