In a move to ease rising tensions, the United States and Mexico have agreed to halt threatened tariffs for 30 days. The pause comes as diplomatic relations strain over the classification of criminal groups and the ongoing issue of firearms trafficking. Mexico's President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has issued a stern warning to US gunmakers, suggesting they could face new legal repercussions as potential accomplices to organized crime.
Mexico's primary drug-trafficking entities, the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels, remain at the center of this controversy. With the US justice department recognizing that 74% of weapons used by these groups originate from north of the border, Mexico seeks tougher US action against firearms trafficking. President Sheinbaum highlighted that between 200,000 and 750,000 weapons are smuggled annually into Mexico from the US, where many are subsequently found at crime scenes. Despite stringent firearm controls in Mexico, these illegally trafficked weapons continue to fuel violence, contributing to approximately 480,000 deaths since 2006.
The legal landscape is further complicated by a recent US court decision dismissing a $10 billion lawsuit from the Mexican government against six American gun manufacturers. This lawsuit aimed to hold these companies accountable for gun-related deaths in Mexico, arguing their complicity in weapons trafficking. Nonetheless, Mexico persists with its legal challenges, continuing a lawsuit against two US gun manufacturers, Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms.
President Sheinbaum's warnings to US gunmakers come as the US state department plans to classify criminal organizations from Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, and Venezuela as "terrorist organizations." This classification raises significant diplomatic concerns and potential implications for international relations. Donald Trump previously noted that such groups "constitute a national security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime."
"If they declare these criminal groups as terrorists, then we’ll have to expand our US lawsuit," President Claudia Sheinbaum stated in response to the potential reclassification.
"The lawyers are looking at it, but they could be accomplices," she added, emphasizing the possible legal ramifications for gun manufacturers.
Sheinbaum firmly rejected accusations from the White House about alleged alliances between the Mexican government and criminal organizations.
"We categorically reject the slander made by the White House against the Mexican government about alliances with criminal organizations," she asserted.
Mexico continues to press its neighbor for decisive action against firearms trafficking, seeking to mitigate the flow of high-powered weapons into the country. The president pointedly remarked on the role of US gun shops in arming criminal groups:
"If there is such an alliance anywhere, it is in the US gun shops that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups."