In a Feb. 1 executive order, President Donald Trump declared what he called an economic emergency and announced his administration would impose 25% tariffs on nearly all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% duty on those imported from China.

Trump said the tariffs aimed to spur further action from the Mexican, Canadian and Chinese governments to combat flows of illegal drugs and unauthorized migrants into the United States. 

Trump and Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to a number of actions on Feb. 3 that postponed the planned tariffs for a month, including the Mexican government sending 10,000 members of its national guard to the U.S.-Mexico border to help prevent migrants and drugs, primarily fentanyl, from entering the country.

While the threat of sanctions may achieve some symbolic, short-term victories like security deployments for the Trump administration, it falls short of addressing the underlying drivers of organized crime and fails to undermine two of their most profitable criminal economies.

“It’s not about immigration and it’s not even about security. This is ostensibly all about politics and political theater,” says Gladys McCormick, Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations.

“Tariffs will hurt the Mexican economy, which will further weaken the Mexican system and the rule of law, and that’s going to make Mexico much more vulnerable to further incursions from organized crime,” McCormick says.

Read more in the InSight Crime article, “Why Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Slow the Flow of Migrants or Fentanyl From Mexico.”