MEXICO CITY – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs have created a divide between Canada and Mexico, after Canadian officials said the problems related to the borders of the two countries should not be compared.

On Monday, the Mexican president rejected the comments, which were made following a meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Mexico must be respected, especially by its trading partners,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said, after Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, told The Associated Press on Sunday that “the message that our border is so different from the Mexican border was truly understood.

Sheinbaum said Canada had its own problems with fentanyl use and “could only wish it had the cultural riches of Mexico.”

Trump threatened to impose Tariffs of 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico unless they stem the flow of migrants and drugs.

Migrant flows and drug seizures at the border of the two countries are very different.

U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared to 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Mexico’s efforts to seize fentanyl before it reaches the United States were dull.

With most fentanyl arriving in the United States – where it causes around 70,000 overdose deaths each year – is manufactured by Mexican drug cartels using chemical precursors smuggled from Asia.

When it comes to immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone, while there were only 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024. During the same period, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 1.53 million migrant encounters on the southwest border with Mexico.

Mexico feels particularly hurt by the Canadian comments, as Mexican officials say their government has fought for Canada in the past. They claim that Trump, during his first term, initially wanted to exclude Canada from the 2018 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement, and that Mexico demanded that it be included . It is unclear whether this was actually the case.

Trudeau also beat Sheinbaum by first meeting with the President-elect of the United States. Both leaders are scrambling for assurances before Trump takes office.

Hillman said Canada was ready to make new investments in border security and planned to acquire more helicopters, drones and law enforcement officers. She also highlighted an agreement between Canada and the United States that allows migrants caught crossing illegally to be returned to Canada. She said Mexico and the United States have not reached a similar agreement.

On Monday, Sheinbaum revealed more about his own conversation last week with Trump, saying he “agreed” that Mexico wanted to focus on intelligence sharing in counter-drug efforts, noting “he said that in his opinion it was a good thing.”

But she said Mexico would reject any direct U.S. intervention in Mexico and would continue to enforce the strict restrictions imposed by her predecessor on U.S. law enforcement in Mexico. “It’s going to stay,” she said.