Good afternoon. As you are probably aware, yesterday the United States government imposed a 25-percent tariff on the products we export to their country.

For 30 years, this hasn't happened because we have a free trade agreement. The most recent free trade agreement was signed by President López Obrador and President Trump, himself. This 25-percent tariff affects both countries, but it has particularly serious consequences for the U.S. economy, as it will dramatically increase the cost of all products exported from Mexico to the United States. It will add 25 percent to the cost.

Regarding these measures announced by the U.S. government, there are documents supporting them, which claim that one of the reasons for imposing this tariff is the fentanyl entering the United States from Mexico that is causing illness and deaths from overdoses.

But what is even more irresponsible - utterly irresponsible - is that the White House has issued a document claiming there are links between the Mexican government and organized crime.

I want to tell you about the statement I published on my social media yesterday, where I explain who truly have links to these criminal groups, and the reason for the overdose deaths among Americans, and where I also say that if they want to take action, they shouldn't focus on Mexico but on their own country, where they have done nothing to stop the illegal sale of this and other drugs.

First of all, as I said yesterday, we categorically reject the defamatory claims made by the White House accusing the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any attempts to interfere in our territory. Sovereignty is non-negotiable. If such alliances exist anywhere, they exist in the U.S. gun shops that sell high-powered firearms that are exclusively for military use to these criminal groups.

This was demonstrated - note this well - by the U.S. Department of Justice itself on January 8th of this year. I have here the document published on that date in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which operates under the Department of Justice - note this carefully - acknowledged that 74 percent of guns used by organized crime in Mexico come illegally from their country's military industry.

In just four months, our government has seized more than 40 tons of drugs, including 20 million doses of fentanyl. We have also arrested more than 10,000 people connected to these groups. We have a strategy, we are addressing the root causes, and we are fighting impunity. We are working every day to ensure the country's security. Now, if the U.S. government and its agencies want to address the severe fentanyl crisis in their country, why don't they start by cracking down on drug sales in the streets of their major cities?

How is it that people with addictions can buy these drugs? Why have we never heard of arrests of U.S. criminal groups in the United States? How is it that money laundering by criminal groups there is not investigated? Why don't they put all their intelligence to work to find the criminal groups that are selling fentanyl or other drugs in their territory?

They could also launch a large-scale campaign to prevent drug use and protect their young people, as we do in Mexico. The drug use and distribution is taking place in their country, and is a public health crisis they have never addressed. Why don't they ask themselves about the root causes behind so much drug use for so long in the United States?

Moreover, as I mentioned yesterday, the epidemic of synthetic opioids in the United States originates in the indiscriminate prescription of these medications, authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, as shown by a legal case against a pharmaceutical company. There are television series that explain this. What's more, the drug that caused the synthetic opioid crisis is still being sold in their pharmacies with official authorization.

I want to you to know, and this is very important: Mexico does not want confrontation. We believe in collaboration between neighboring countries. Mexico wants to prevent fentanyl from reaching the United States or any other destination. Therefore, if the United States wants to combat the criminal groups and wants us to do it together, we must take comprehensive action, but always guided by principles:

The principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration, and above all, respect for sovereignty. Sovereignty is non-negotiable. Coordination, yes; subordination, no. With this goal, yesterday in my statement I proposed to President Trump that we establish a working group with our best teams - both in security and public health. Problems are not solved by imposing tariffs, but through discussion and dialogue, as we have done.

And this I want to tell you about. This is what we have done in recent weeks with the State Department to address the issue of migration – in our case, always with respect for human rights. The graph that President Trump has been posting on his social media about the reduction in migration was created by none other than our team, which has been in constant communication with his.

To our Mexican brothers and sisters in the United States: I want to tell you that your president and an entire nation are here to defend you. If you want to return to Mexico, we welcome you with open arms. The Mexican people are brave and have great dignity. They are the most wonderful people on Earth. I tell you that your president is here for you. We have courage and determination, but, as I have said before, we must always act with a cool head and love for our people. Nothing we do will affect the dignity and interests of the Mexican people. I propose that we wait for President Trump's response to our proposal, and in tomorrow's morning press conference, in the People's Morning Press Conference, I will inform you of the first measures of what we call Plan B.

As Juárez said: Force accomplishes nothing; reason and law prevail. And between individuals, as between nations, respect for the rights of others means peace.