US President Donald Trump's decision to postpone higher tariffs on Mexican goods "safeguards" an existing North America free trade deal, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday.

Mexico's government had reached "the best possible agreement" compared with other nations also threatened with new US import duties, she said at her morning news conference after speaking with Trump.

The two governments were also close to finalizing a security agreement to tackle cross-border drug trafficking, as well as gun smuggling from the United States to Mexico, Sheinbaum said.

Trump, who has accused Mexico of not doing enough to curb drug flows, wrote in a Truth Social post that he had "agreed to extend, for a 90 Day period, the exact same Deal as we had for the last short period of time."

Mexico currently faces a 25 percent US tariff for goods not entering under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The free trade pact replaced the previous NAFTA accord in July 2020, after Trump successfully pushed for a renegotiation during his first term in office.

It is due to be reviewed by July next year.

Sheinbaum has called the USMCA "one of the best trade agreements in history" and the "only way we can compete with Asian countries, particularly China," — echoing Trump's previous high praise of the deal.

Mexico replaced China in 2023 as the largest trading partner with the United States, which buys more than 80 percent of its exports.