Mexican president reiterates opposition to US tariffs in new letter to Trump

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that she wrote another letter to US President Donald Trump to voice opposition to his new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

"Yesterday I sent a letter to President Trump, including a graphic that shows the US surplus with Mexico in the steel and aluminum industry," Sheinbaum told reporters at her regular morning press conference.

"President Trump's tariff proposal stems from his claim that the United States is running a trade deficit," she added, explaining that a trade deficit means a country imports more than it exports. "However, in the case of aluminum and steel with Mexico, it is the other way around -- the United States exports more than it imports."

Sheinbaum also announced there will soon be a meeting between US Commerce Secretary-designate Howard Lutnick and Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard on this issue.

Earlier this week, Trump signed executive orders imposing 25-percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum products flowing into the United States, which is expected to impact Mexico's steel sector.

Sheinbaum said Wednesday that in a previous letter to Trump, she called the new tariffs an "unnecessary" measure.

At the same time, Mexico and the United States are holding talks to negotiate the suspension of 25-percent tariffs on all Mexican goods exported to the United States.