Mexican security cabinet heads to U.S. seeking to avert tariffs

Top Mexican officials including the foreign and security ministers are heading to Washington seeking an agreement with President Donald Trump's administration to avoid sweeping tariffs, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday.

The visit by the entire security cabinet underlines the sense of urgency here to reach a deal before Trump's one-month deadline for progress tackling illegal migration and drug trafficking expires next Tuesday.

The delegation includes Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente, Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch and Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla, Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference.

They are expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, seeking to "close the agreement" with Washington, she said.

Sheinbaum has repeatedly expressed optimism about reaching a deal with Trump, who said on Monday that his planned levies on imports from Mexico and Canada were moving forward as planned.

She has said she will speak with Trump again by phone if needed to seal a deal, and indicated that she was open to a possible face-to-face meeting after the Tuesday deadline.

Last week, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard traveled to Washington to meet with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

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 of the levies after Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 more troops to the Mexican-US border.

Sheinbaum has pledged to collaborate with Washington, while rejecting any "invasion" of her country's sovereignty, after the United States designated six Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.

Authorities last week announced the capture of two prominent members of the Sinaloa cartel, which Washington accuses of being a major player in fentanyl trafficking.

© Agence France-Presse