Mexican president hopes to talk with Trump to avoid tariffs

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she hoped to talk to her US counterpart Donald Trump as part of efforts to avoid being hit with his threatened tariffs.

She spoke shortly after Trump wrote on social media that he would move ahead with imposing levies on Mexico and Canada next week.

A high-level Mexican delegation is in Washington in search of an agreement and "we hope that we can talk to President Trump once these meetings take place," Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference.

"I hope we can reach an agreement," she added.

Sheinbaum has repeatedly expressed optimism that tariffs between the two countries can be avoided.

Shortly after taking office, Trump announced duties of up to 25 percent on Mexican imports, citing illegal immigration and the flow of deadly fentanyl.

He issued a last-minute suspension until March 4 after Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 more troops to the Mexico-US border.

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Mexico's foreign, economy, finance, defense and security ministers are among the senior officials who will hold talks in Washington with counterparts, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Sheinbaum has pledged to collaborate with Washington, while rejecting any "invasion" of her country's sovereignty.

Her government has touted a series of announced investments by foreign companies as a sign of bright prospects for Latin America's second-largest economy, despite the tariff uncertainty.

On Thursday it was the turn of US home improvement giant Home Depot, whose Mexican subsidiary president Jose Rodriguez appeared at Sheinbaum's news conference to announce a $1.3 billion investment over several years.

It follows a $1 billion spending pledge by streaming giant Netflix to produce films and series in Mexico, as well as planned investments totaling more than $2 billion by Spain's biggest bank, Santander.

Source: AFP