Tariffs on Mexico and Canada will be applied on time, says Donald Trump: 'It will be good for the US'

Is the possibility of an agreement with Claudia Sheinbaum fading away? President Donald Trump has assured that the tariffs planned for Mexico and Canada will come into effect in March.

“ The tariffs will be applied on time, as planned ,” said the US president from the White House during a joint press conference with President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, February 24.

Canada and Mexico agreed to a one-month pause with Donald Trump . Both countries have stepped up surveillance of their borders with the United States in an effort to avoid tariffs. In Mexico's case, the government has sent 10,000 national guardsmen to its border cities .

Trump has said the tariffs on Mexico are in response to what he sees as a poor fight against fentanyl and human trafficking .

As part of the agreement, the United States pledged to combat arms trafficking to Mexico . Claudia Sheinbaum's government argues that this has allowed the empowerment of drug cartels, which were recently classified as terrorists by Trump .

Earlier, President Sheinbaum said that Marcelo Ebrard , Secretary of Economy, will continue to hold meetings with US government officials to stop tariffs.

"They had a first meeting and what they agreed on was to continue working this week. A team from the Ministry of Economy is staying in Washington , and some colleagues from the Ministry of Finance will accompany them to work with the Ministry of Commerce of the United States to establish agreements," he said at the morning press conference on Monday, February 24.

President Donald Trump has also indicated he is pushing a plan for so-called reciprocal tariffs , which he says would tie U.S. levies on other countries to the tariffs and non-tariff barriers they impose on American goods.

“It will be very good for our country, our country will be extremely rich again ,” he said.

According to Banxico, the peso closed at 20.42 units against the dollar. However, the exchange rate rose after Trump's announcement to 20.46 pesos per dollar.

Analysts have warned that if Trump applies 25 percent tariffs on all Mexican exports, the exchange rate could soar to 24 units , and GDP could contract by at least 2 percent by 2025 alone.