Jeff Colombini looks over bing cherries in one of his orchards in Stockton, Calif. Most of Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs will be imposed on U.S. agricultural exports. | Terry Chea/AP Photo Mexico imposes retaliatory tariffs on dozens of U.S. goods

Mexico on Thursday began imposing its second stage of retaliatory tariffs on dozens of U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump’s duties on Mexican steel and aluminum exports to the United States.

The tariffs complete Mexico’s two-part retaliation on almost $3 billion worth of U.S. products. The Mexican government, which first announced its retaliation list last month, started the action on June 5 by eliminating preferential tariffs established under NAFTA on a number of products, including pork, potatoes and whiskey. The Mexican government confirmed on Thursday that the increased tariffs are going into effect.


Most of Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs will be imposed on U.S. agricultural exports, such as apples, cranberries and various cheeses. Mexico is also targeting a number of American steel products. The majority of products on the list will face tariffs between 15 and 25 percent.

Mexico’s retaliation comes after the Trump administration decided in May to end its exemptions to the tariffs on steel and aluminum for U.S. allies, such as Canada and the European Union. Canada and the EU have also pursued retaliatory tariffs on a total of almost $16 billion worth of U.S. products, such as peanut butter and kitchenware.

Mexico has said the duties will remain in place as long as the Trump administration maintains its tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum.

Trump’s steel tariffs add to the growing trade tensions between the U.S. and Mexico that Mexico’s President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador will have to deal with in the coming months and when he takes office on Dec. 1.

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López Obrador has not directly addressed Trump’s tariffs, but has repeatedly said he wants to avoid a trade war with the U.S., given its importance to Mexican consumers and producers. The leftist former Mexico City mayor has also said he wants to have a relationship built on mutual respect with Trump, but it’s unlikely that Trump’s trade policy will go a long way toward harboring close ties with López Obrador.

Talks to renegotiate NAFTA have largely been at a standstill since the the tariffs were put into effect. Both Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland have emphasized that the tariffs are on a separate track from the NAFTA talks. However, many regard the U.S. decision to slap the duties on Mexico and Canada as a pressure tactic for them to accept a deal.

Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez called the tariffs part of a “gun-to-the-head negotiating style,” that’s only making it more difficult for Mexico and Canada to agree to something “without committing suicide domestically.”

Mexico strategically selected products that “don’t have an important impact on national consumption, that it doesn’t have an important impact on the topic of inflation, and that you have alternative sources,” Guajardo said when the retaliatory tariffs were first announced.

Products were chosen “that have implications in some districts where there’s important congressmen and senators ... because, finally, the effect will fall on voters and citizens that live in the districts of people who have a voice and vote in the American Congress,” Guajardo added.

Mexico’s decision to impose duties on cheeses, for example, hits House Speaker Paul Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin produces almost one-third of all U.S. cheese. Mexico’s tariffs also hit steel producers in Indiana, Vice President Mike Pence’s state, and motor boat builders in Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio’s state.

U.S. pork producers are expected to feel the loss even harder, as Mexico increased its tariffs on U.S. pork to 20 percent. Pork producers were already facing 10 percent duties from Mexico’s move to remove NAFTA preferential tariffs for some American products. Mexico bought almost 25 percent of all U.S. pork shipments last year.

American dairy producers have been vocal critics of Mexico being hit with the tariffs, given that Mexico accounts for about 25 percent of all U.S. dairy exports, and purchased almost $400 million of U.S. cheese last year.

The National Milk Producers Federation, U.S. Dairy Export Council and more than 50 other dairy groups wrote to Trump last month to urge him against the tariffs on Mexico, “a model for open dairy trade with the United States.” The tariffs would largely help the European Union, which just recently wrapped up talks with Mexico for an expanded trade deal, the groups added.

“Unfortunately, our share of the Mexican market is in grave jeopardy,” the groups said.