Washington: President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stopped migrant caravans travelling towards the United States, linking trade penalties to his demand for tighter immigration enforcement.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said groups were forming and moving through Mexico. He warned that they would not be admitted to the United States and said Mexican authorities and US immigration agencies had been informed.
“Mexico must stop them, now, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be immediately doubled,” he wrote.
The post did not specify which tariffs would be increased, the goods they would cover or the legal authority for imposing them. It also did not provide an effective date beyond making the threatened increase conditional on Mexico failing to stop the migrants.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded that no migrant caravan had reached the US border since Trump returned to office in January 2025, Mexican daily Diario de Yucatan reported Thursday.
The newspaper reported that Sheinbaum described one group in Arriaga, in the southern state of Chiapas, as having dwindled from about 500–600 people to fewer than 100. She said authorities were explaining the difficulties of entering the United States and offering alternatives, including returning to their countries or remaining in Mexico under certain conditions.
Sheinbaum also said another group arriving from Honduras was receiving humanitarian assistance and information about its options, the newspaper reported. Her account concerned the groups’ progress through Mexico, while Trump’s post demanded that they be stopped before reaching the United States.
Trump tied his warning to the US midterm elections, suggesting the political outcome had encouraged renewed migration. His post offered no evidence establishing that connection.
“Here we go again! With the perceived loss by the Republicans in the Midterms – I was not on the ballot- the invasion of our Country is taking place again,” he wrote.
Trump said Mexico, the Texas governor, the incoming Texas governor, Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been informed.
“There will be no leniency!” he wrote.
The Financial Times reported that the threat came while Washington and Mexico were negotiating reductions in US tariffs on steel, aluminium and automobiles. Those discussions concern existing trade measures; Trump’s latest post tied the prospect of further penalties specifically to migration enforcement.
Mexico is both a destination for migrants and a transit country for people travelling north from Central America towards the United States. The two countries share a land border, making migration management a recurring subject of bilateral relations.
(IANS)
