Trump threatens to double tariffs on Mexico over caravans

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops migrant caravans reaching the shared border. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum answered that no caravan has reached the border since he returned to office.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said: "MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED." He opened the post by referring to "the perceived loss by the Republicans in the Midterms" and said "the INVASION of our Country is taking place again". A later line read: "There will be no leniency!"

Two groups are on the move. Mexican security personnel intervened against a caravan of about 100 people on Tuesday after they crossed the river separating Mexico from Guatemala, and dozens were reportedly detained. Two days earlier, a group of about 1,000 crossed into Mexico without meeting resistance; by Thursday they were making their way through Chiapas, the southern state that borders Guatemala. Another caravan is expected to leave Honduras on Sunday.

Migrants in the caravans told AFP they had hoped Republican losses in the midterms would mean looser US border restrictions. Democrats won both chambers of Congress and the governorship of Texas, according to the account carried by Supply Chain Dive.

Sheinbaum said on Thursday that no migrant caravan had reached the US border in the period since Trump's return to the White House in January 2025. "There are people who mislead migrants by saying, for instance, that the US election result has changed immigration policy, which is simply not true," she said.

"We're telling the people in the caravan that entering the United States is extremely difficult, and that if their goal is to reach the United States, they will not be able to do so," she said. Mexico was looking for ways to return them to their home countries safely, or to let them stay in Mexico under specific conditions at a designated location, she added.

Mexico is Washington's top trading partner, and the two neighbours are renegotiating the terms of their free trade deal. Most Mexican goods enter the United States without tariffs, but steel and aluminium face duties of between 25 percent and 50 percent. Trump's post did not say which duties he meant to double.

The State Department has revoked visas, or the right to apply for them, from more than 15 people believed to be organising the caravans, Supply Chain Dive reported.

Caravans were a frequent occurrence during Trump's first term and under Joe Biden. Since Trump returned to office with a hard-line anti-immigration agenda, illegal crossings at the southern border have fallen sharply, the same account said.