U.S. tariffs disrupt Mexico's key industires

The recent imposition of 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum by the United States has significantly impacted Mexico, where the raw metals industry heavily relies on U.S. trade.

Mexico exported about two million tons of steel to the U.S. last year.

Despite last-ditch efforts by Mexico to negotiate with the Trump administration, with the country's economy minister traveling to Washington in an attempt to avert the metal tariffs, the 25-percent tariffs have now been applied to all steel and aluminum imported from America's southern neighbor.

"This is a very strong and hard movement against the Mexican economy. Even though we are not the (top) exporter of aluminum to the United States, neither for steel, this impact with the tariffs will imply the disruption in the supply chains," said Turenna Ramirez Ortiz, a corporate trade attorney at Holland and Knight, a multinational law firm.

The U.S. exports more than twice the amount of steel to Mexico than it imports. However, the new tariffs on steel and aluminum entering Mexico will come at a cost to other key national industries.

Mexico has made no announcements so far regarding possible retaliatory tariffs, although President Claudia Sheinbaum has threatened such measures. According to Ramirez, however, the country must tread carefully.

"The problematic (task) for us to make a retaliation in the exact same sector will be an implosion in the economic industry, especially in these ones, in the industries of automotive and steel, which are some of the most important ones for our industrial development," the attorney said.

Mexico's automotive sector, an industry set to be heavily impacted, sees the tariffs as a way to bring about an end goal of speeding up North American free trade renegotiations, currently set for 2026.

"I believe this is about forcing Canada and Mexico to the free trade renegotiations in this month when the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (T-MEC) is open for review. And I think from our perspective, the sooner this happens, the better," said Guillermo Rosales, president of the Mexican Association of Automotive Dealers (AMDA).

With 25-percent tariffs now in place on steel and aluminum, the first blow of a U.S. trade war with Mexico has been struck - the industrial sector is now waiting to see how Mexico will respond.

U.S. tariffs disrupt Mexico's key industires

A Chinese defense ministry spokesman on Friday criticized Japan's development of offensive weapons, calling it a dangerous departure from its pacifist constitution.

Zhang Xiaogang, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a regular press conference in response to a report that Japan's Defense Ministry has, for the first time, publicly disclosed details of its development of a new ballistic missile with a range of 3,000 kilometers, far exceeding the scope of its "exclusively defense-oriented policy," which is seen as an effort to develop offensive weapons following U.S. calls for allies to enhance their strike capabilities.

"In recent years, Japan has continuously breached constraints of its pacifist constitution, moving further down the path of military expansion, which is dangerous and unpopular. The lessons of history are not the distant past, as Japanese militarism once brought innumerable disasters to Japan, Asia, and the rest of the world. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. We demand that Japan draw profound lessons from history, exercise caution regarding military security, and take concrete actions to promote regional peace and stability, thereby earning the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community," said Zhang.

Japan's current Constitution, drawn up under the Allied occupation following World War II, is best known for its Article 9, by which Japan renounces its right to wage war and promises that "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained."

China's defense ministry criticizes Japan's development of offensive weapons