The Trump administration is successfully pushing the Mexican government into re-honoring an air transportation agreement it repeatedly broke during the Biden era, a memo shows.
In response to a slate of retaliatory measures taken by President Donald Trump’s Department of Transportation (DOT), Mexican government officials have “taken immediate action” to fall back into compliance with the U.S.-Mexico Air Transport Agreement, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The developments mark the latest instance in which the Trump White House has strong-armed Mexican counterparts into action better aligned with U.S. interests.
“We commend President Trump and the Department of Transportation for bringing [Mexico] into compliance with the U.S.-Mexico Air Transport agreement in a way the Biden administration could not,” the memo states.
“Thanks to the Trump administration’s tough stance, the [government of Mexico] has taken immediate action to enhance the transparency of the Mexico City Airport slot framework and to return slots to U.S. carriers that were temporarily withdrawn in 2022,” the memo continues. “These developments are a testament to the strength and negotiating prowess of the Trump administration and DOT Secretary Sean Duffy.”
The DOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF about the memo.
The Latin American country has taken steps to fall back in line, per the memo obtained by the DCNF. The Mexican government is returning slots that U.S. carriers surrendered in 2022, effectively restoring American carriers to their previous competitive positions. Mexican officials are also adopting worldwide scheduling guidelines and appear “open to addressing” cargo operational concerns in their capital city.
The issue dates back to a bilateral agreement that was implemented in the waning days of the Obama administration.
Signed in December 2015 and entered into force in August 2016, the Air Transport Agreement was intended to “significantly increase” trade and travel between the U.S. and Mexico, according to the DOT. The agreement called for a number of changes, such as eliminating government restrictions on routes, permitting airlines from the two countries to fly between any city in the U.S. and Mexico and paved the way for other freedoms in the air.
However, Mexican government officials began breaking the terms of this deal in the years that followed, reducing competition and giving predominant airline competitors an “unfair” advantage in the U.S.-Mexico market, according to the Trump administration.
In 2022, Mexico had taken actions such as rescinding airline slots and forcing American all-cargo carriers to relocate operations, Trump’s DOT stated. The following year, Mexican officials published a decree that mandated all dedicated cargo operations to relocate from the Mexico City International Airport to the Felipe Angeles International Airport, which disrupted supply chains.
In response to these grievances, Duffy rolled out a slate of retaliatory measures against Mexico in July, including forcing Mexican airlines to file schedules with the DOT for all their stateside operations, mandating prior approval before operating any large cargo or passenger aircraft charter flight from or to the U.S., among other measures.
“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg deliberately allowed Mexico to break our bilateral aviation agreement,” Duffy said in a public statement when unveiling the retaliatory actions. “That ends today. Let these actions serve as a warning to any country who thinks it can take advantage of the U.S., our carriers, and our market.”
Trump has positioned himself as a tough negotiator on the international stage, particularly with Mexico and other nations he’s accused of harming American interests.
Immediately upon returning to office, Trump forced Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to deploy 10,000 National Guard soldiers to the southern border to help mitigate the flow of drugs and illegal immigration through the U.S.-Mexico border, in exchange for the White House pausing its 25% tariff on Mexican imports.
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