TMH#12: DO YOU SAY 'TOMATO' OR 'TOMATO'? MEXICO AND US CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT; FRIENDLY FIRE IN TABASCO; SHEINBAUM V. LICHTMAN
July 15th, 2025
Good morning, dear readers! This is today’s Headline. Let's dive into the news:
The Trump Administration stepped up pressure on Mexican trade after it announced its withdrawal from the 2019 Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico, a decades-old conflict with American growers. It imposed a 17.09% tariff instead. Mexican officials promptly condemned the decision, this time, through a joint press release from the Economy and Agriculture Secretariats (it seems Secretary Berdegué is in better health now). As expected, everyone ran this on their front page, questioning what this decision means for the US-Mexico relation, after a build-up of past months. The US seems so entrenched in its tariff policy, despite calls that it will hurt American consumers, that such calls look pointless. Domestically, such decisions look bad for President Sheinbaum's administration, but only accumulatively, as it gives the impression of a lack of control and imminent economic chaos. It does inflame the nationalistic sentiment of the population, though, the Brazilian example being the best proof of that. How far can both tendencies stretch? It will be a matter of weeks to find out.
That being said, we shouldn't forget a third party in this game, and I don't mean Canada, but China. As Mexico and the US approach the 2026 revision of their free trade agreement, the Asian hegemon has taken an indirectly ever-increasing role. That was a specific argument by the Mexican scholar Eduardo Tzili-Apango in an op-ed last month… and it also seems to be the overt argument of US authorities. That would explain why US Ambassador Ron Johnson decided to warn about China's trade expansionism and against its "pressure to gain financial control" at a meeting of the American Society in Mexico City last weekend. Yesterday, China responded to the accusations, pointing to the Americans for "looking for excuses to keep their own hegemony, imposing arbitrary tariffs and erecting trade barriers," among other accusations. Interestingly, it mentioned the "making up of false charges to sanction financial institutions," which fits perfectly with what happened to three Mexican banks and investment firms two weeks ago. So yeah, there's that too.
President Sheinbaum stepped up her game too, though this time against Ovidio Guzmán's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, against whom she announced a possible suit for defamation after Lichtman insinuated the Mexican government works as a PR agent for the cartels. She made the announcement during yesterday's Mañanera, so many quoted the President's words verbatim. Good for her. Many remembered the time when President Andrés Manuel López Obrador tried to sue ex-Security Secretary Genaro García Luna's lawyer for similar reasons, but then he retracted. Sheinbaum also defended the Cienfuegos Case, where former Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos was caught by the US on organized crime charges, later extradited, and released by the Mexican government. Bad for her. For his part, Lichtman is himself PR-ing quite hard, making media appearances such as an interview he gave to Adela Micha just yesterday, where he fondly talked about "El Chapo" Guzmán, almost calling for pity for the notorious drug lord. He must have very high fees. That said, he's right to point out that there's a larger chain of responsibility when speaking about the drug trade.
The State of Tabasco is the place to look out for deep ruptures within Morena, Mexico’s party in power. Days ago, an Army Commander revealed that former State Security Secretary Hernán Bermúdez had an arrest warrant since February for ties to an organized crime group. Bermúdez took office during the governorship of Adán Augusto López Hernández. For those who don't know him, Adán Ausuto was a powerful Interior Secretary with AMLO, then a fearful opponent to President Sheinbaum on the road to the candidacy, and now a despotic majority leader in the Senate. Many regard him as a political burden to President Sheinbaum, alongside his peer in the Chamber of Deputies, Ricardo Monreal. Yesterday, Tabasco’s governor Javier May ratified the accusations and said he would let the investigations run their course. Excélsior reports that Bermúdez has an Interpol notice against him. His arrest would be beneficial, not just to May, thanks to a minor or damaged presence of Adán Augusto López in the State, but most importantly to President Sheinbaum, as she looks to consolidate power within the part.
Now, let's take a look inside!
There's a report on an initiative by catholic priests to train clerics from Guerrero, Jalisco, and Michoacán on how to reach out to criminals and establish dialogue and negotiations, taking other countries like Colombia as an example.
El Universal features an article on PEMEX's decision to classify four financial audits that were supposed to be publicly available. PEMEX faces serious financial challenges, high debt levels, and diminishing production capacity, so you can imagine how important this information is.
Alright, that's it for today. I'm glad you made it this far. Better things await you at the end of the day. See ya!