US President Donald Trump points Mexico ultimatum over ‘unfair treaty violation’
The US president announced a $12 billion economic assistance package to farmers as trade wars continue to impact crop exports, before warning Mexico of additional tariffs unless the country pays up on a water treaty
United States President Donald Trump said tariffs will be imposed on neighbouring Mexico if the country does not adhere to a water treaty signed eight decades ago.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday, December 8, that Mexico had violated the treaty which agrees for both countries to to share water from the Rio Grande and Colorado.
He said the country owes the US 800,000 acre-feet of water and demanded the release of 200,000 acre-feet before year-end. He added that a 5% tariff will be imposed on Mexico if the country does not comply.
Trump imposed a 30% tariff on Mexico on August 1. He said in the post that Mexico was “seriously hurting our BEAUTIFUL TEXAS CROPS AND LIVESTOCK.”
“As of now, Mexico is not responding, and it is very unfair to our U.S. Farmers who deserve this much needed water. That is why I have authorized documentation to impose a 5% Tariff on Mexico if this water isn’t released, IMMEDIATELY. The longer Mexico takes to release the water, the more our Farmers are hurt. Mexico has an obligation to FIX THIS NOW,” he wrote.
The treaty operates in five-year cycles. Mexico has not delivered a share of water to the US in five years and the latest delivery deadline was October 2025, the Daily Express reported.
Water is a scarcer resource now than it was more than 80 years ago when the treaty was signed. Population growth, water waste, aging infrastructure and changing weather patters have led to more demand by both countries.
The US Texas state, which boarders Mexico, uses water from the country to irrigate its citrus industry and supply many cities near the state border. Mexican border states are similarly dependent on water flowing from the US.
The US president has also renewed support for American farmers struggling to sell their crops and facing higher costs amid tariff wars.
Trump earlier on Monday announced $12 billion in economic assistance to farmers at a White House roundtable with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, lawmakers from farm states and farmers, the Associated Press reported.
The immediate value of the program of $11 billion will be offered as one-time payments to row-crop farmers, while another $1 billion will be put aside for specialty crops as the administration works to better understand the circumstances for those farmers. The aid will move by the end of February.
“With this bridge payment, we’ll be able to farm another year,” Iowa farmer Cordt Holub said during the event.
Farmers appreciate the aid package, but said aid does not solve the problems of rising costs and market uncertainty.
They have backed Trump politically, but his his trade policies and changing tariff rates have come under scrutiny over the impact on the agricultural sector and consumer concerns.
Soybeans and sorghum were hit the hardest by Trump’s trade spat with China, the country to receive the greatest export of the crops.
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