The administration of Barack Obama on Tuesday stepped up efforts to crack down on guns and money flowing to Mexican drugs cartels in the latest sign that the relationship with Mexico is rocketing up the US political agenda.

As two separate crises – drugs-related violence that has claimed more than 7,000 lives in Mexico since the start of 2008 and a $2.4bn trade dispute – threaten to spiral out of control, the administration said it would send more personnel and equipment to the border.