MEXICO CITY — A combination of tact and tenacity is credited for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's successful dealings with US counterpart Donald Trump, most recently convincing him to delay a sky-high import tariff meant to come into effect last week.

 

The pair are known to get along despite sitting on opposite sides of the political aisle, earning Mexico's first woman president the epithet of "Trump whisperer."

 

At least three times now, the US president has granted Mexico tariff relief and Trump has described Sheinbaum as a "wonderful woman" to the envy of a host of other world leaders who have found exchanges with Trump can be tetchy.

 

On Thursday, Trump agreed to delay by 90 days a 30 per cent general tariff on imported Mexican goods, just hours before it was to take effect.

 

It was the outcome of the ninth phone conversation between the two leaders since Trump returned to power in January with a strong rhetoric against undocumented migrants and fentanyl flowing from America's southern neighbour.

 

How did she do it? "With a cool head," the president herself told reporters Friday.

 

The 63-year-old physicist and dedicated leftist added that she avoids "confronting" the magnate, all the while insisting on Mexico's sovereign rights in dealing with a man known to respect strong leaders.

 

Sheinbaum has said that Mexicans should "never bow our heads" and Trump has acknowledged her mettle, remarking: "You're tough" in one phone call, according to The New York Times.

 

"Mexico represents a lot to the United States... they are aware of that," Sheinbaum explained.

 

'Ability to convince'

 

Thanks to the USMCA free trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada, nearly 85 per cent of Mexican exports have been tariff-free.

 

And while a 30 per cent general tariff has been delayed, for now, Mexico's vital automotive sector is the target of a 25 per cent levy, albeit with discounts for parts manufactured in the United States.

 

Its steel and aluminium sectors, like those of other countries, are subject to a 50 per cent tariff.

 

Mexico's government nevertheless claims the latest delay as a victory.

 

"Without being sycophantic, I can tell you that the way our president handles her conversations, her approach, the firmness with which she defends Mexico's interests, her ability to convince President Trump, is very significant," Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard, who leads trade negotiations, told reporters Thursday.

 

Give and take

 

Sheinbaum seems also to have adopted a give and take approach, deploying thousands of border troops to assuage Trump's concerns about migration and drug flows.

 

The president insists she has "not yielded anything" in negotiations with Trump, and talks are ongoing between the neighbours for a security agreement to tackle the problem of fentanyl and drug trafficking.

 

Sheinbaum has also raised the possibility of importing more US products to reset the trade balance.

 

Some fear the Mexican leader is merely buying time.

 

The latest tariff delay "does not solve the issue of uncertainty; we return to the starting point," Diego Marroquin, a trade expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told AFP.