US to place 5% tariff on all goods; Mexico president tells Trump ‘social problems aren’t resolved with taxes or coercive measures’
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| Donald Trump visits a new section of the border wall with Mexico in Calexico, California |
In a surprise announcement that could compromise a major trade deal, Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he is slapping a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports to pressure the country to do more to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants trying to cross the border.
He said the percentage would gradually increase “until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied”.
Trump made the announcement by tweet after telling reporters earlier Thursday that he was planning “a major statement” that would be his “biggest” so far on the border.
“On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP. The Tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied,” he wrote, “at which time the Tariffs will be removed.”
Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, responded with a two-page letter to Trump on Thursday night.
“The Statue of Liberty is not an empty symbol,” he said.
“With all due respect, even though you have the right to say it, ‘make America great again’ is a fallacy because, until the end of times, and beyond national borders, universal justice and fraternity should prevail,” he wrote.
Amlo, as the president is commonly called, offered his US counterpart history lessons on past periods of cordial US-Mexico relations. He also included details of his plans to develop Central America to stop migration and warned: “I don’t lack courage, I’m not a coward nor timid, rather, I act on principles.”
Trump has accused the Mexican government of failing to do enough to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants who have been flowing to the US in search of asylum from countries including El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
But the Mexican leader was blunt on the current crisis: “President Trump, social problems aren’t resolved with taxes or coercive measures,” he said, defending his administration’s handling of the migration issue.
Thousands remain stranded in southern Chiapas state, unable to obtain immigration documents, while US asylum seekers must wait in northern Mexican border cities as their cases are heard in US courts.
“You also know that we are fulfilling our responsibility and avoiding, as much as we can and without violating human rights, the passage (of migrants) through our country,” Amlo said.
He ended the letter with the salutation “your friend.”
Trump’s announcement comes as the administration has been pushing for passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that would update the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The White House said Trump would be using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to implement the tariff.
“If the illegal migration crisis is alleviated through effective actions taken by Mexico, to be determined in our sole discretion and judgment, the Tariffs will be removed,” the White House said in a statement.
But if Trump is not satisfied, the 5% figure will increase to 10% on 1 July, to 15% on 1 August, to 20% on 1 September and to 25% on 1 October.
“Tariffs will permanently remain at the 25 percent level unless and until Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory,” the statement read.
On a press call Thursday night, the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, insisted that imposing tariffs on Mexican imports would not interfere with the continuing negotiations over a North American trade deal.
“The two are absolutely not linked,” he told reporters.
Asked about the impact of the tariffs on the economy, Mulvaney said illegal immigration was “already impacting the economy negatively”.
He said the White House briefed Republican members of Congress before the plan was announced and that lawmakers were generally supportive. But Trump’s aggressive trade policies have divided Republicans and sparked fears for the US and global economy.
During a visit to Canada on Thursday, the vice-president, Mike Pence, vowed the deal would be passed this year.
“Our administration is working earnestly with leaders in the Congress of the United States to approve the USMCA this summer,” he said. Asked by reporters about the new tariff consideration, Pence said that both Mexico and Congress needed to do more and that Trump was determined to use his authority to call on them to do so.
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