Mexico President hopes to reach ‘good’ deal with Donald Trump to avoid tariffs

Mexican officials are in Washington for talks this week and President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would speak with Donald Trump again by phone if needed.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that she expected to reach a "good agreement" with her US counterpart Donald Trump this week to avoid being hit with tariffs.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum hopes to reach an agreement with US President Donald Trump to avoid high tariffs (REUTERS)

Her remarks came a day after Trump said that his planned levies on imports from Mexico and Canada were moving forward as planned.

"We hope to be able to reach an agreement before the end of the week, at the latest on Monday," Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference.

"I think that there will be a good agreement because until now there has not been a single issue where there is conflict, a problem that cannot be solved," she added.

Mexican officials are in Washington for talks this week and Sheinbaum said she would speak with Trump again by phone if needed.

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 halt to the levies for a month, until next Tuesday, after Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 more troops to the Mexican-US border.

"The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule," Trump told a news conference on Monday.