On March 4th, hours after Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on Mexican exports to the United States, Mexico’s government stood before the Supreme Court of the United States to argue that American gunmakers should be held liable for deaths caused by Mexican gangs using the weapons they manufacture.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear oral arguments in a landmark case brought by the government of Mexico against Smith & Wesson and other United States-based gun manufacturers, seeking to hold them liable for cartel violence south of the border.

U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor in Boston sided with the gun companies in 2022 and threw out the lawsuit. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Saylor's decision in January 2024 and ruled that the suit could proceed.

A majority of the justices seemed to question Mexico’s claim that it could prove a direct chain linking arms manufacturers to drug cartel violence.

The lower appellate court ruled that Mexico had “plausibly” claimed that the manufacturers did aid and abet the illegal trafficking of guns “by passing along guns knowing that the purchasers include unlawful buyers, and making design and marketing decisions targeted towards those exact individuals.”

The United States and Mexico have long been entangled in a complex web of issues, with President Donald Trump often pointing fingers at Mexico for sending

The dispute focuses on whether Mexico can hold U.S. manufacturers liable for gun violence and comes amid rising tensions between the countries.

Mexico has a similar complaint about the United States and guns, as reflected in a case that the Supreme Court heard on the same day the tariffs took effect. Officially, the Mexican government sued American gun manufacturers,

Mexico’s 2021 lawsuit accuses Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms of knowingly supplying weapons to dealers who sell to traffickers. The companies’ lawyer compared the case to holding Budweiser liable for drunk driving,