Mexico retaliated almost immediately against U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum on Thursday, focusing on products from congressional districts President Donald Trump‘s Republican party is fighting to retain in November elections.
“It sends a clear message that this kind of thing does not benefit anybody,” Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said in an interview on Mexican radio about the measures against U.S. products ranging from steel to grapes.
“Because, in the end, the effect will fall on voters and citizens that live in districts where the people have voice and vote in the North American Congress.”
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The Mexican measures target pork legs, apples, grapes and cheeses as well as steel – products from U.S. heartland states that supported Trump in the 2016 election. The country reacted quickly after Washington said in the morning it was moving ahead with tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
Mexico said it was imposing wide-ranging “equivalent” measures, ratcheting up tensions during talks with Washington to renegotiate NAFTA and ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections. The measures will be in place until the U.S. government eliminates its tariffs, the ministry said.
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Guajardo said retaliation was aimed at products chosen to hit districts with important lawmakers who had been warning Trump not to mess with Mexico. He estimated the U.S. tariffs would affect $4 billion in trade between the two countries.
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Trump’s Republicans are fighting to retain control of Congress in the midterms. Their majority in the House of Representatives is seen as vulnerable.
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Pork exporter Iowa, where incumbent Republican Rod Blum in the 1st congressional district is considered vulnerable, is an example of a place Mexico’s reaction could hurt.
“It is a sad day for international trade,” Guajardo said. “But hey, the decision was made, and we always said that we were going to be ready to react.”
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Mexico buys more steel and aluminum from the United States than it sells. It is the top buyer of U.S. aluminum and the second-biggest buyer of U.S. steel, the economy ministry said.
The countermeasures will hit U.S. hot and cold rolled steel, plated steel and tubes, the ministry said.
The United States, Canada and Mexico have been renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, which governs trade between the three countries.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto spoke by phone following the U.S. announcement. Canada also pledged to fight back with its own measures.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said the country will continue negotiating with the United States to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement despite “unjust and unilateral” tariff measures by the U.S. government.