The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Friday evening an agreement on water sharing between the United States and Mexico, after Mexico had failed to meet its obligations under a treaty, prompting President Donald Trump to threaten additional tariffs. The department stated in a press release: "The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement today to meet current water obligations toward U.S. farmers and ranchers and to cover Mexico's water deficit in Texas under the 1944 treaty." The agreement applies "to the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle." The two countries continue their discussions to finalize the plan by the end of January. Earlier, Donald Trump had accused Mexico of violating the water-sharing treaty, which obliges the United States to provide 1.85 billion cubic meters of water annually from the Colorado River, and Mexico to provide 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Bravo (which Americans call the Rio Grande). However, according to Washington, Mexico has significantly delayed in meeting its obligations, with its southern neighbor accumulating a deficit of over one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years. Donald Trump wrote: "This violation is causing tremendous damage to our beautiful crops and livestock in Texas." According to the USDA, Mexico agreed to provide 250 million cubic meters of water, starting next week, to compensate for the accumulated deficit. The department's statement quoted U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins as saying that Mexico provided in one year a quantity of water that exceeded what it had provided in the previous four years combined. "This is a step in the right direction, but President Trump was very clear: if Mexico continues to fall behind on its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose a 5% tariff on all Mexican goods imported into the United States," the Secretary said. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had expressed her hope of reaching an agreement with Donald Trump. A Mexican Foreign Ministry official, Roberto Villaseca, confirmed Mexico's full commitment to providing the required amount of water for previous years in accordance with the treaty and ensuring water supplies from Mexico. He noted that due to the size of the pipelines, "it will not be possible to provide the amount of water that the U.S. counterpart is requesting in a very short period of time."
