Trump threatens 5% tariff on Mexico for non-compliance with the Water Treaty

Washington.– U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he authorized the documentation to impose a 5% tariff on Mexico if the neighboring country does not immediately release 246.6 million cubic meters pending according to the Water Treaty, a breach that, according to Trump, has seriously affected the crops and livestock of Texas. Trump pointed out that Mexico still owes more than 986.4 million cubic meters accumulated in the last five years and warned that as long as the treaty is not complied with, American farmers will continue to suffer economic damage. “The later Mexico releases the water, the more our farmers will be harmed,” the president emphasized, urging the Mexican government to “resolve this now,” the president said on his Truth Social account. Trump’s warning to Mexico comes a few hours after meeting at the White House with a group of agricultural leaders from southern Texas who, along with Governor Greg Abbott and Republican Senator Ted Cruz, have sought to pressure the neighboring country to comply with the 1944 water agreement, which regulates the management of the Colorado, Bravo, and Conchos rivers that cross both nations.

What does the Water Treaty establish?

According to the 1944 treaty, the United States must send 1.85 billion cubic meters from the Colorado River per year to Mexico and Mexico 2.185 billion cubic meters from the Bravo River in five-year cycles. “Mexico continues to violate our Water Treaty, and this violation is seriously damaging our BEAUTIFUL TEXAS CROPS AND LIVESTOCK,” Trump wrote. The Republican’s threat comes on the same day that his Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, acknowledged that the agricultural sector was facing a crisis worse than any that most farmers had ever experienced. The secretary added that the farmers would receive their aid on February 28, 2026, and that they would know how much they would receive at the end of the year. Trump stated at the White House: “We love our farmers”, and announced a 12 billion dollar bailout that will be taken from a fund of the Department of Agriculture.