Mexican and US officials who will negotiate on security, migration and USMCA

Security

In a context of territorial expansion of drug trafficking cartels, internal struggles of criminal organizations, as well as the growing trafficking of fentanyl from Mexico to the United States, the issue of security is also a priority in the new stage of the bilateral relationship.

On the Mexican side, the mission is in charge of Omar García HarfuchSecretary of Security and Citizen Protection, who in the first months of the government has prioritized the fight against fentanyl trafficking and the arrest of cartel operators, especially in Sinaloa.

Harfuch is an official close to President Claudia Sheinbaum, whom he also accompanied in her management as Head of Government of CDMX, as head of the Secretariat of Citizen Security.

In Mexico, Harfuch is in charge of the Security strategy and focused actions such as in Sinaloa, where a wave of violence is going through after the arrest of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

For Mexico, one of the priorities in terms of security is the confiscation of firearms, because they are linked to 70% of intentional homicides.

“One of our priorities in these dialogues is precisely the issue of the entry of weapons from the United States into Mexico; therefore, it is one of the issues that we are obviously going to discuss,” the president clarified last Wednesday in her morning conference.

To stop this seizure, the head of the Ministry of National Defense (Defense), Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, will also be a strategic official, because that institution is one of those in charge of the seizure of weapons.

On the part of the United States government, one of the key women is Kristi Noem, former governor of South Dakota, who is in front of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and strategic position in internal security management.

The DHS is in charge of supervising border control, migration management and preventing threats to national security, among others.

“If I am confirmed and have the opportunity to be secretary, CBP One will be closed on day one,” Noem told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee days before Trump’s inauguration.

Another of the key men is Michael Waltz National Security Advisor. A few days ago, he considered it unacceptable that drug traffickers control 30% of Mexican territory.

“We have to confront them as what they are: these are paramilitary organizations with billions at their disposal, with armored vehicles, heavy machine guns that fight against the Mexican Army, not against the Police, but against the Army until it paralyzes it,” he said in an interview with CBS.

Before, in January 2023, Michael Waltz spoke out in favor of the entry of the United States Army in Mexico.

Economy

The economic relationship between Mexico and the United States is another fundamental issue for both countries, although with the arrival of Trump there have been some threats such as the imposition of tariffs.

Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Economy, has two missions: the Trade Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC), and the so-called Operation Cleanup, to stop the arrival and commercialization of contraband products, mainly Asian.

“Operation Cleaning” began in the center of the country and week by week it has spread to entities such as Baja California, Durango, Sonora and Coahuila, allowing the seizure of around 1,000 million pesos in piracy products and others that did not enter legally to the country.

Ebrard will also be a key official in the review of the T-MEC, scheduled for 2026.

Azucena Rojas, a professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, affirms that beyond his preparation, Ebrard has an advantage: he knows Trump.

“Marcelo Ebrard has experience, but that is not the only reason he is functional, he has something: he is a politician who already knows Trump. When López Obrador was president, he was Secretary of Foreign Affairs, now he is Secretary of Economy.

On the American side, the commercial lawyer, Jamieson Greer, who is the head of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), will be the counterpart with whom Ebrard must negotiate a sensitive issue: tariffs.

Greer already worked with Trump in his first term in office. He was chief of staff of Robert Lighthizer, who was a commercial representative. In announcing his nomination, Trump highlighted Greer’s work during his first term in pushing tariff issues.

“Jamieson played a key role during my first term in imposing tariffs on China and other countries to combat unfair trade practices, and in replacing the failed NAFTA agreement. [con México y Canadá] by the USMCA, which made it much better for American workers,” Trump said when announcing him as manager.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is also part fundamental for economic issues of the bilateral relationship. One of his characteristics is that he is in favor of tariffs as a measure to protect jobs in the United States, as Trump has already proposed.

Lutnick, who is CEO of financial services company Cantor Fitzgeral, is a supporter of tariffs and backs Trump’s vision of returning manufacturing jobs to the United States.

Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury and former Wall Street executive, he will also be a key actor for the economic and commercial relationship with Mexico.

“I am pleased to appoint Scott Bessent as the 79th Secretary of the United States Treasury. Scott is widely respected as one of the world’s leading international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists. “Scott’s story is that of the American dream,” Trump wrote last November, when appointing the billionaire.