Mexico and Canada outsmarted Trump in his trade war. He still thinks he won. | Opinion
Mexico and Canada have outsmarted Trump by bolstering border security with measures already underway or that can easily be carried out.
It’s not clear whether Mexico and Canada played President Donald Trump in his tariffs war, but it sure seems so – at least, temporarily.
Trump is boasting that Mexico and Canada buckled to his 25% tariff after a head-spinning clash with America’s largest trading partners.
At least for now, Mexico and Canada have outsmarted Trump by bolstering border security with measures already underway or that can easily be carried out.
Mexico and Canada made Trump think he won
I love that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau twisted Trump’s ego to back off for 30 days. They obviously figured out that he hates bad press and hates spooking the stock market even more.
All that, no doubt, played a role in Trump agreeing Monday to hold back on imposing a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods if those countries don’t stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigration, which are just an excuse for Trump’s bigger endgame.
In the face-saving deals, Mexico agreed to deploy 10,000 soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border, and Canada agreed to reinforce the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, including appointing a fentanyl czar, listing cartels as terrorists and creating a joint strike force to combat organized crime.
A huge victory for Trump? Sure, let him believe that.
Canada had already laid out some of those border security measures and threw a few other things into the mix to please Trump.
And Mexico had already been doing Trump’s dirty work on immigration.
Mexican President Sheinbaum got key concession from Trump
Back in 2019, then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador deployed thousands of soldiers to Mexico’s southern border to crack down on migrants heading to the United States.
Most recently, Mexico had begun cracking down on migrants and setting up temporary shelters for Trump’s deportees.
Deploying 10,000 soldiers to the border didn’t appear to be too much of a hassle for Sheinbaum. And she seemed fine to let Trump do his victory dance.
“These soldiers will be specifically designed to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country,” Trump boasted on social media.
Furthermore, Sheinbaum said Trump has agreed to combat the flow of high-powered weapons illegally smuggled into Mexico, which the cartels use for their drug and human trafficking and the terrible violence there.
Trump didn’t mention that as part of the deal in his social media post, but if it’s true, that means Sheinbaum got an important concession. Don’t forget that Mexico is suing U.S. gunmakers over weapons smuggled into the country.
Trump is only half addressing the fentanyl problem
Trump isn’t wrong to go after fentanyl trafficking, considering that the drug has killed tens of thousands of people in the United States.
Most of that fentanyl – 96.6% – comes from Mexico, and only a miniscule amount – 0.2% – comes from Canada, according to CNN. In fiscal 2024, U.S. border authorities say they seized 21,889 pounds of fentanyl, and of that amount, 43 pounds were seized at the Canadian border.
What Trump gets wrong is the fact that he isn’t much interested in combating drug use or the demand for it in the United States. That makes it nearly impossible to end drug trafficking and addiction.
The president has the chance to do something about it by aggressively curbing weapons smuggling into Mexico and confronting Americans’ drug addiction.
But nope. That requires investing and caring for people on drugs.
Trump isn’t interested in saving them or preventing others from using the deadly drug.
Trump leaves industries vulnerable. That's wrong.
Trump has bigger plans.
He’s obsessed with sticking it to Mexico and now wants to annex Canada as the 51st state at any price.
He’s leveraging the threat of tariffs to punish Mexico and eventually break Canada into folding as part of the United States. (He has said as much.) All while trying to grab Greenland and the Panama Canal by any means necessary.
Trump only reacts to money and strength, which must have helped Trudeau. He stood firm and ready to retaliate with a 25% tariff against U.S. goods. He rallied his countrymen and women against Trump’s imperialistic incursions.
But make no mistake. This pause is only that.
Trump’s tariff threats leave entire sectors, like automakers, restaurants and beer makers, vulnerable. Same goes for fruit and vegetable farmers, warehouses, and packaging and distribution networks.
Overall, the three countries trade about $2 trillion worth goods and services a year. Trump shouldn’t use that for his imperialistic fantasies.
Elvia Díaz is editorial page editor for The Arizona Republic and azcentral, where this column originally published. Reach her at elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com or follow her on X, (formerly Twitter): @elviadiaz1