The Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s response to the US tariffs was delivered in robust language.

Writing on X, she described the White House’s statement as “slander” against the Mexican government, after the Trump administration had accused it of having an “intolerable alliance” with Mexican drug trafficking organisations.

“If such an alliance exists”, President Sheinbaum wrote, “it is in the United States gun-manufacturers that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups” – part of a dispute Mexico has had with Washington for some years now, calling on the US to do more to clampdown on the illegal flow of guns south to arm the cartels.

Mexico didn’t want confrontation, said President Sheinbaum, and she has proposed the creation of a joint working group between their respective public health and security teams.

However, her key point came at the end of her statement: she had instructed the Economy Secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, to implement what she called “Plan B”, adding that it included “tariff and non-tariff measures in defence of Mexico’s interests”.

The measures are expected to include retaliatory tariffs of 25% on US goods, which President Sheinbaum has repeatedly said would be a central part of her government’s response.