Trump announces tariffs on Mexico over immigration
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says Mexico exports illegal aliens and it’s time to tax them.
President Trump on Sunday called Mexico an “abuser” of the United States, and warned that if the country does not do more to “stop the invasion” of the Southern border, his newly-imposed tariffs on Mexican goods would force companies based in Mexico to be “brought back” into the U.S.
The president’s tweets come following his announcement on Thursday to impose a new 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports — a tariff that would increase over time.
MEXICO DISPATCHES TEAM TO DC TO NEGOTIATE TARIFFS, AS TRUMP DEMANDS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION REMEDY
“The problem is that Mexico is an ‘abuser’ of the United States, taking but never giving. It has been this way for decades. Either they stop the invasion of our Country by Drug Dealers, Cartels, Human Traffickers, Coyotes and Illegal Immigrants, which they can do very easily, or our many companies and jobs that have been foolishly allowed to move South of the Border, will be brought back into the United States through taxation (Tariffs),” Trump tweeted early Sunday.
“America has had enough!” he added.
Trump announced the new tariffs, which are slated to go into effect on June 10, on Thursday. The president said a new 5 percent tariff would be placed on all Mexican imports to pressure the country to do more to help crack down on the surge of migrants trying to cross the U.S. Southern border. Trump warned, though, that the tariff percentage would gradually increase up to 25 percent “until the illegal immigration problem is remedied.”
Fox News has learned that the tariffs, on all goods by land, sea, and air from Mexico, will hike up to 10 percent on July 1, 15 percent on August 1, 20 percent on September 1, and to 25 percent by October 1.
“Tariffs will permanently remain at the 25 percent level unless and until Mexico substantially stops the illegal flow of aliens coming through its territory,” the White House said in a statement this week.
MEXICAN PRESIDENT SAYS HE EXPECTS ‘GOOD RESULTS’ FROM TARIFF NEGOTIATIONS WITH US
But upon the announcement of the new tariffs, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador dispatched his foreign relations secretary to Washington on Friday, as the country scrambled to negotiate a solution with the U.S.
Over the weekend, though, Obrador said he expects “good results” from the upcoming talks in Washington and reportedly suggested he is open to reinforcing efforts to stem illegal immigration. Obrador said that Mexican officials plan to convey to the Trump administration what they have been doing to stop illegal immigration, and added that they are open to additional measures “without violating human rights.”
In a letter to Trump on Thursday following the announcements of the tariffs, Obrador said that “social problems are not solved with duties or coercive measures,” and added that the United States has a history of being a nation of immigrants.
“The Statue of Liberty is not an empty symbol,” he wrote in the letter.
But despite upcoming talks, White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, on “Fox News Sunday,” said the president’s move to impose tariffs was one to show how serious he is about the situation at the border.
“I fully expect these tariffs to go on to at least the 5 percent level on June 10th the president is deadly serious about fixing the situation at the southern border,” Mulvaney told Fox News’ Chris Wallace Sunday.
Mulvaney also explained how tariffs against Mexico would benefit the U.S., citing the positive change in the economy following the administration slapping tariffs on Chinese goods.
“American consumers have gone to products that are made in the United States, for example, that don’t carry those tariffs, and we think the same thing will happen here and the American consumers will not pay for the burden of tariffs,” Mulvaney said. “American taxpayers are paying hundreds of billions of dollars for illegal immigrants. They’re paying hundreds of billions of dollars for the drugs that come across the southern border, so there’s already a cost associated with this that we are trying to get off of the backs of ordinary Americans.”
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the president blasted congressional Democrats, claiming they “are doing nothing” to address securing the border.
“The Democrats are doing nothing on the Border to address the Humanitarian and National Security Crisis! Could be fixed so easily if they would vote with Republicans to fix the loopholes!” he tweeted.
Trump added: “The Wall is under construction and moving along quickly, despite all of the Radical Liberal Democrat lawsuits. What are they thinking as our Country is invaded by so many people (illegals) and things (Drugs) that we do not want. Make America Great Again!”
The president’s tweets come as the border sees a historic number of migrants attempting to enter the U.S.
Last week, more than 1,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents near the U.S.-Mexico border—the largest ever group of migrants ever apprehended at a single time, sources told Fox News.
The group of 1,036 illegal immigrants found in the El Paso sector included migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, according to sources.
There were 58,474 families apprehended last month, according to CBP. In March, the agency said that there was an increase of nearly 106 percent over the same period last year.
A top Border Patrol official told lawmakers in April that authorities have apprehended more families illegally crossing the border between October 2018 and February of this year than during all of the 2018 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2017-Sept. 30, 2018).
Fox News’ Travis Fedschun, John Roberts, Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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