Trump Drafts Mexico Into His “Fortress North America” Army… Chinese Cars Face Heavy Fire

Trump finally gets his Dwight Schrute moment with Mexico…

If you’ve been following along, you know that Trump has been running the Dwight Schrute playbook for months… storming into Mexico’s metaphorical break room, pounding the table, and whispering, “We need to form an alliance.” Mexico, in classic Jim Halpert fashion, tried to brush him off with polite nods, awkward silence, and the kind of forced smile you give when your boss tells you about his podcast. But here’s the thing about Dwight (and Trump): they don’t f*** off when you ignore them. They circle back, again and again, until you either give in or start refreshing Indeed at work. And after weeks of pressure (plus one Trump-Sheinbaum phone call where Trump dangled a temporary reprieve from higher tariffs like a cat toy), Mexico finally blinked.

So yeah, the alliance is officially on, whether Mexico actually wanted to RSVP or not. And the timing isn’t random. Chinese cars have been flooding into Mexico so fast it looks like someone left the gate open at the BYD factory. This year, Mexico actually passed Russia to become the world’s number one dumping ground for Chinese vehicles. Tariffs there max out around 20%, which might sound strict until you compare it to the U.S., where Trump went full send and dropped a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs. That gap turned Mexico into the trade equivalent of the speakeasy side door… why bother with the front entrance when you can slip around the alley with no cover charge?

For Sheinbaum, though, this goes way past pleasing taxpayers. Her government is staring down a budget deficit that ballooned to its widest since the 1980s after her predecessor blew cash like a typical politician. That means she needs new revenue streams without jacking up taxes at home. So yeah, higher tariffs are perfect. They plug a fiscal hole while giving her “Plan Mexico” (a strategy built on new industrial parks and public projects) more credibility with Mexican investors. Sure, critics argue she’s moving late and sending mixed signals to the private sector, but given the fiscal squeeze, it’s a play she almost had to make.

(Source: Financial Express)

And while headlines have calmed down with all the AI and Fed talk… make no mistake, Trump is still on a global tariff bender. India’s still got 50% duties hanging over it’s head, plus a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil. South Korea’s still stuck with 15% tariffs despite begging for mercy. And the EU was recently told to erase tariffs on U.S. industrial goods if it wants the U.S. to lower auto duties. And as for our friendly cousin who lives up North? Well Canada already waved the white flag, trashing its retaliatory tariffs just to stay in step with Washington.

But unfortunately for Trump, the whole thing’s still hanging in legal limbo like a fart that just won’t clear the room. A federal appeals court is deciding whether Trump actually has the authority to keep tossing tariffs around, and if the judges say no, the whole thing gets punted to the Supreme Court. That means Mexico might be signing onto an alliance that could get clipped before it even leaves the driveway.

But for now, Trump finally has his alliance. Mexico’s been dragged into the tariff club, Sheinbaum gets some extra pesos to patch the budget, and Trump gets to run to Truth Social and post in all caps about his “HISTORIC MEXICAN ALLIANCE!”... right before firing off a meme of himself riding a taco-shaped tank through the Great Wall of China.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News doesn’t hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.