Why Trump Always TACOs with Mexico
A ruthless strategy that keeps Mexico yielding without a trade war
Donald Trump threatened to impose a 30 percent tariff on all Mexican exports to the United States. For weeks he insisted the August 1 deadline was final. Then, one day before it arrived, he blinked.
After a phone call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump announced a 90‑day delay, leaving current tariffs untouched.
Analysts call this pattern TACO, short for Trump Always Chickens Out: a cycle of high‑stakes threats followed by last‑minute retreats designed to avoid economic turmoil. But the pattern is selective. Canada has faced tariffs as high as 35 percent. Other countries, up to 50 percent.
The question is why, with Mexico, Trump repeatedly TACOs.
