President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government made major concessions — and delivered results — to avert President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs. He imposed them anyway.
Up to the last minute, Isaac Presburger, like a lot of other Mexican businessmen, still could not believe that President Trump would deliver on his promise to hit Mexico with tariffs. Little did it matter that Mr. Trump had announced that very day that he would go ahead with the planned taxes.
“I am still incredulous,” said Mr. Presburger, director of sales at Preslow, a family-run apparel business in Mexico. “We know by now that Trump pressures you so you give him what he wants. We have given him everything and he has not let loose of his grip.”
In response to Mr. Trump’s threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on Mexican products, Mexico made a major effort: Leaders agreed to send more than two dozen alleged cartel heads to be tried in the United States, a departure from the government’s previous stance on extraditions.
President Claudia Sheinbaum dispatched thousands of National Guard troops to the state of Sinaloa, the hub of fentanyl trafficking, where they seized vast amounts of the synthetic opioid and busted hundreds of laboratories. She sent thousands more to the U.S. border, contributing to a plunge in the number of illegal crossings.
Ms. Sheinbaum bent further than anyone had expected to show the Trump administration that her government was serious about meeting U.S. demands, analysts say.