Trump threatens to double Mexico tariffs over migrant caravans

President Trump threatened on Thursday to immediately double tariffs on Mexican imports unless Mexico stops migrant caravans heading toward the US border, a warning President Sheinbaum answered by saying no caravan has reached the northern border since Trump took office.

Why it matters: Mexico is the United States' largest trading partner, and doubling duties that already sit at 25 percent on non-USMCA goods would hit the automotive, electronics and metals supply chains that cross the border daily, while the two governments are still negotiating tariff reductions.

Data as of FreightWaves report of November 12, 2026, read in full in this run, quoting the president's Truth Social post and President Sheinbaum's morning news conference of the same day; migrant group sizes as reported inside it by Reuters (about 1,500 people) and EFE (about 2,000 initially). Single-source reporting at the time of writing, and the threat names no tariff lines, exemptions or effective date. Developing item.

President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to immediately double tariffs on Mexican imports unless Mexico stops migrant caravans traveling toward the US border, writing on Truth Social that “the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED” if it does not. He did not say which tariffs would be doubled, whether existing exemptions would survive, or when any increase would take effect.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum disputed the premise at her morning news conference, saying no migrant caravan has reached the northern border since Trump returned to office in January 2025, and that two caravans in southern Mexico, put at about 1,500 people by Reuters, are being managed by Mexican officials. The threat lands on duties already at 25 percent on most non-USMCA Mexican goods, with bilateral commerce of $96.34 billion in September alone and tariff-reduction talks still under way.

Trump threatens to double Mexico tariffs over migrant caravans

Sources