Such measures wouldn’t be necessary if Beijing ran anything like a normal, balanced economy
By Peter Navarro | Financial Times | December 16, 2025
OPINION:
Mexico’s decision last week to impose tariffs of up to 50 per cent on a wide swath of Chinese and other Asian imports is more than a neighbourhood scuffle. It is a major milestone in President Trump’s trade revolution — and in the postwar international trading system itself.
Now, one of America’s closest trading partners is openly aligning its tariff wall with the US to block Beijing’s predatory export machine. Mexico’s Senate has approved new duties on more than 1,400 products, from autos and steel to plastics and textiles, targeting countries like China that lack trade agreements with Mexico.
The message from Mexico City is unmistakable: if you want preferential access to the US-Mexico-Canada region, you can’t be a front door — or a back door — for Chinese dumping. This is exactly what Trump and his trade team — US trade representative Jamieson Greer, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and me — have been pressing allies to do.