Mexico celebrates preferential treatment under USMCA after US tariffs announcement

By Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Raul Cortes

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday celebrated the preferential tariff treatment Mexico receives under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) after her country was excluded from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs.

"This is good for the country," Sheinbaum said during her regular morning press conference. "It has to do with the good relationship that we've built between the Mexican and U.S. governments."

Trump announced on Wednesday a minimum tariff of 10% on nearly all imports into the United States, with much higher levies imposed on key trading partners, including China and the European Union.

Amid the euphoria from local officials, the Mexican peso appreciated nearly 1.3% in afternoon trading, after touching its best levels since November 2024, while the main stock index climbed 0.65%, the best performance among a basket of global equity markets.

Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard also hailed the news that Mexico would be excluded from the new tariffs as a "great achievement."

"The USMCA treaty has outlived this new trade regime," he said, adding that Mexico's goal in the next 40 days is to achieve the best trade conditions possible.

Sheinbaum said later on Thursday that the Mexican government will publish decrees in May aimed at strengthening the local auto, steel and aluminum industries.

The president talked during an event where she presented 18 actions from the so-called Plan Mexico, aimed at strengthening the country's national economy, but did not detail any retaliatory measures to U.S. tariffs.

Mexico, which sends 80% of its exports to the United States, is one of the countries most vulnerable to Trump’s tariff threats.

(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez, Raul Cortes, Ana Isabel Martinez and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Laura Gottesdiener, Sharon Singleton and Mark Porter)