Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has said trade talks with the United States have advanced, while tariffs affecting Mexico’s automotive, steel and aluminium industries remain unresolved. She said the two sides were assessing whether they could reach an agreement before the US midterm elections on 3 November.
Speaking at her daily press conference on 28 October, Sheinbaum said there had been much progress in the discussions, but that some issues were still outstanding. She left open whether an agreement before the elections was feasible.
Mexico is seeking a significant reduction in US tariffs on the three industries. That remains a negotiating objective, rather than an agreed outcome. Reporting on the talks identified those sector-specific tariff issues as unresolved; Sheinbaum’s stated assessment was that some issues remained outstanding.
Contacts with US trade officials
Sheinbaum said Mexico’s economy secretary had spoken with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on 26 and 27 October. Those contacts took place in the two days immediately before her update on the negotiations.
Her account brought together two aspects of the discussions: progress in the exchanges with US officials and continued uncertainty over outstanding issues. The assessment that talks had advanced did not amount to confirmation that the countries had settled the tariff questions.
The question of timing also remained open. According to Sheinbaum, the sides were considering the possibility of an agreement ahead of 3 November, but her remarks presented that prospect as something still to be assessed, not as a timetable that had been secured. There is no formal deadline for the talks.
An agreement before the elections was therefore a possible outcome under consideration. It was not a result Sheinbaum said had already been achieved, nor one she confirmed would be reached by that date. Her assessment concerned the feasibility of concluding the talks within that period.
Tariff issues still outstanding
The unresolved sector-specific issues identified in reporting concern automotive, steel and aluminium tariffs. Mexico’s stated aim is a significant reduction in those US duties, with the extent of any reduction dependent on what can be agreed in the talks.
For those industries, the position described on 28 October was therefore still one of negotiation. Sheinbaum’s assessment of progress in the wider discussions and Mexico’s reported request for lower tariffs did not establish an agreed change to the duties.
The tariff objective and the election timetable are separate elements of the negotiations. One concerns the terms Mexico is seeking for its industries; the other concerns whether the two countries can complete an agreement before the US vote.
Sheinbaum’s account left the feasibility of a pre-election agreement open. She described substantial progress without treating all the remaining issues as resolved, and raised the possibility of an agreement before the vote without giving a definite answer on whether that would be feasible.
The contacts with Lutnick and Greer provided the immediate setting for her assessment. She referred to discussions held on 26 and 27 October, then addressed their progress at the following day’s press conference alongside the questions that remained open.
Whether the advances described by Sheinbaum can lead to agreed terms, including on the tariff issues identified in reporting, remains to be established. The prospect of reaching an agreement before 3 November is uncertain, rather than an announced outcome of the discussions.
For now, Sheinbaum says Mexico and the United States have made progress in their trade talks, while Mexico continues to seek significantly lower tariffs and the feasibility of an agreement before the midterms remains to be determined.
