Barron’s (February 6)
“Of all Trump’s potential trade war targets, Mexico is by far the most vulnerable, with exports to the U.S. close to a quarter of gross domestic product. China’s figure is less than 3%.” But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, a relative political novice, “taught a master class on how to play a weak hand.” She “deftly handled Donald Trump” while maintaining approval (at nearly 80%) at home.
Tags: Approval, China, Deftly, Exports, GDP, Mexico, Novice, Sheinbaum, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Vulnerable
Washington Post (February 5)
“Freaked out by the prospect of a plunging stock market, President Donald Trump backed off his plan to slap 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. He covered up his retreat with the assertion that his threat had prodded America’s neighbors into sending resources to combat drug trafficking at its borders — something, it turns out, they were already doing.”
Tags: 25%, Borders, Canada, Drug trafficking, Freaked out, Mexico, Plunging, Retreat, Stock market, Tariffs, Threat, Trump
Wall Street Journal (February 1)
“President Trump will fire his first tariff salvo on Saturday against those notorious American adversaries . . . Mexico and Canada. They’ll get hit with a 25% border tax, while China, a real adversary, will endure 10%.” Should the president Trump persist, this will become “the dumbest trade war in history” for he would be imposing “25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for no good reason.”
Tags: 10%, 25%, Adversaries, Border tax, Canada, China, Dumbest, Mexico, Notorious, Reason, Tariff, Trade war, Trump
Wall Street Journal (January 31)
“President Trump’s advisers are considering several offramps to avoid enacting the universal tariffs on Mexico and Canada that he had pledged.” Even if Trump implements tariffs, the “frantic negotiations with Canada and Mexico” might continue, hoping to reach a resolution before the measures come into effect. Increasingly, North American businesses and labor groups are arguing that “across-the-board tariffs would snarl continental supply chains, drive up prices, and increase reliance on trade with adversarial regimes such as China and Venezuela.” Still, “the situation is fluid and Trump still may go through with his vow to slap 25%, across-the-board levies on imports from America’s two largest trading partners.”
Tags: Advisers, Businesses, Canada, China, Fluid, Labor, Mexico, Negotiations, Offramps, Prices, Supply chains, Trump, Universal tariffs, Venezuela
Washington Post (November 30)
“After years of tumult in the housing market, builders across the country are betting that looser regulations and what they hope will be an economic boom will make it easier to build and sell. They’re also hoping those tailwinds more than offset possible hazards of Trump’s agenda, including ramped-up tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China that could push up costs for materials, and aggressive immigration policies that could mean the deportations of construction workers.”
Tags: Build and sell, Builders, Canada, China, Construction, Deportations, Economic boom, Hazards, Housing market, Immigration, Materials, Mexico, Regulations, Tailwinds, Tariffs, Trump, Tumult, Workers
New York Times (November 27)
“The inflation risk stalking the markets eased over the summer,” but is now “front and center again as investors contend with a Trumponomics crackdown on immigration, a rising trade-war risk and a potential bonanza of tax cuts.” Trump’s “latest trade threats show how uncertain the outlook could be”. Since he vowed “to impose tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico…analysts have been gaming out the potential impact.” It could be an opening gambit of little consequence, but “economists fear that it could add bottlenecks and costs to supply chains and reignite inflation, and that it could scramble the Fed’s policy on interest rates.”
Tags: Bottlenecks, Canada, China, Costs, Crackdown, Fed, Immigration, Inflation, Interest rates, Investors, Markets, Mexico, Risk, Supply chains, Tariffs, Tax cuts, Trade war, Trumponomics, Uncertain
Wall Street Journal (November 26)
“Trump’s promise to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% on Chinese imports on the first day of his presidency could lead to higher prices, just as the country appears to be turning a corner on inflation.” Economists at Yale’s Budget Lab calculated that these tariffs, combined with the three countries’ expected retaliatory measures, “would raise U.S. consumer prices by 0.75% next year,” which would “amount to more than $1000 in lost purchasing power per household.”
Tags: $1000, Canada, China, Consumer prices, Economists, Imports, Inflation, Mexico, Purchasing power, Retaliatory measures, Tariffs, Trump, U.S., Yale
Wall Street Journal (November 13)
“South of the border, China is ascendant,” having successfully “capitalized on U.S. indifference in Latin America.” The world’s second most populous nation has now “replaced the U.S. as the dominant trading partner for most big economies, with the exceptions of Mexico and Colombia.” Beijing has also “signed up most of Latin America and the Caribbean to an infrastructure program that excludes the U.S.”
Tags: Ascendant, Big economies, Border, Capitalized, China, Colombia, Dominant, Indifference, Latin America, Mexico, Trading partner, U.S.
South China Morning Post (June 28)
“Facing major obstacles in developed countries, many Chinese car manufacturers have already pivoted to emerging markets such as Latin America. In 2023, Chinese cars accounted for 19.5 per cent of all car sales in Mexico, compared with only 6.4 per cent in 2019.”
Tags: 19.5%, 2019, 2023, 6.4%, Car manufacturers, Chinese, Developed countries, Emerging markets, Latin America, Mexico, Obstacles, Pivot, Sales
CNN (June 17)
“Mexico is enduring its most expansive and severe drought since 2011, affecting nearly 90% of the country. Water has become an increasingly fraught topic, with fears cities — including Mexico City — could be barreling toward a ‘day zero,’ on which water runs dry.”
Tags: 2011, Cities, Day Zero, Drought, Dry, Enduring, Expansive, Fears, Mexico, Mexico City, Severe, Water