Claudia Sheinbaum’s stoic diplomacy faces its limits
by Andrés Rozental.
Much has been written and said about how Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has managed to avoid the kind of treatment Donald Trump has often reserved for countries with which he has grievances. Some analysts have compared her approach to that of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who took a more combative stance. Trudeau responded to Trump’s provocations - like his comments about making Canada the 51st state and imposing tariffs on Canadian exports - with reciprocal actions and direct criticism. In contrast, Sheinbaum has never explicitly threatened retaliation. Nor has she directly confronted Trump on major bilateral issues such as migration and drug trafficking - topics Trump campaigned on and has made central to his administration.
Her relatively low-key approach to dealing with Trump, calling for patience and delay before responding to the US President’s constant assaults on Mexico, was seen by a majority of Mexicans, and many international pundits, as a model for how to “manage” a relationship with the author of The Art of the Deal.
Notwithstanding generalized applause for her stoicism and her high popularity, I believe it important to judge whether Sheinbaum’s strategy of accommodation has actually benefitted Mexico more than Chinese, European or Canadian reactions in dealing with Trump.
The overlooked impact of Trump’s auto tariffs
by Luis Lozano.
Donald Trump is obsessed with imposing tariffs to vehicles made outside the United States, but I do not think he has a clear objective for it other than the protection of American jobs. Let’s assume that works. The issue here is if saving American manufacturing jobs will make American cars more appealing to the global markets. Put a different way: will reviving American automotive manufacturing guarantee that the US keeps up with technological changes being led by Asian brands? Unlikely…
The most important thing that the North American automotive business has experimented with in the last 40 years has been NAFTA. NAFTA created an environment of competitiveness that the US had lost with Lyndon B Johnson’s tariffs. Those tariffs disconnected the industry from other markets and needs, ironically hurting the competitiveness of the American brands. They resulted in the United States losing its ability to lead an industry which it invented for the world. It is impressive to see that the US government making the same mistakes today.
