In the midst of President Trump’s international trade war, many effective announcements have been made regarding foreign economic relations. Over the summer, he announced that the U.S. will begin imposing 30% tariffs on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting August 1, 2025. Additionally, tariffs as high as 35% are now imposed on all goods from Canada. Numerous other American trading partners have had tariffs imposed on their goods: Brazil faces a 50% tariff, Japan and South Korea have a 25% tariff.
However, the main problem doesn’t simply lie with the tariffs, but the intentions behind them, especially one particular nation that borders the United States. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo received a letter from President Trump, claiming that the Mexican government was not doing enough to stop the flow of numerous illicit drugs – including fentanyl – into the United States. “Despite our strong relationship, you will recall the United States imposed tariffs on Mexico to deal with our nation’s fentanyl crisis, which caused, in part, caused by Mexico’s failure to stop the cartels, which are made up of the most despicable people who ever walked the Earth, from pouring these drugs into our country,” he wrote. “Mexico has been helping me secure the border, but what Mexico has done is not enough.”
For more than a decade, fentanyl has been the culprit behind an opioid crisis in the United States. Countering its trafficking has been a major priority of the government, and Mexico has played a key part in the U.S.’ drug policy. The Trump administration has taken multiple steps to counter the drug influx. Apart from tariffs, tariff threats, sanctions, and threats of potential U.S. military action have been used to pressure the Mexican government into directly addressing the issue. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has continued to sanction Mexico-based persons pursuant to E.O. 14059, some for trafficking drugs. The sanctions block assets under United States jurisdiction, forbidding individuals from engaging in financial transactions with the aforementioned individuals.
IN June 2025, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued orders that identified two Mexico-based banks, as well as a Mexico-based brokerage firm, as financial organizations of primary money-laundering concern in connection with illegal opioid trafficking. The orders, in connection with the Fentanyl Sanctions Act (amended in April 2024 by the FEND of Fentanyl Act (21 U.S.C. §2313a)), prohibit certain transmission of funds involving the entities. Mexico has classified the tariffs as “unfair treatment,” although President Sheinbaum has expressed optimism about reaching better terms with the U.S. before receiving Trump’s letter.
Written by Alexandra Kwitkowski
