Mexican President Gives In To Trump, Says He's Ready To Deal With Border Crisis
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador caves to President to avoid tariff hikes
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Following president Donald Trump's threats to hit Mexico with tariff hikes if the country fails to stem the flood of illegal immigrants, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador responded by saying they could be "prepared to reach out the deal."
White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney reaffirmed that Trump is "deadly serious" about levying a 5% tariff on Mexican goods if the Mexican government if they don't step up enforcement on the southern side of the border.
Mulvaney insisted that the president's threat was not an empty one, according to Fox News.
"He is absolutely, deadly serious," Mulvaney said, Politico reported.
"I fully expect these tariffs to go on to at least the 5 percent level on June 10."
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He described how the White House had been working alongside the Mexican government to encourage immigration forces to block "caravans" of migrants from Central America.
But now Trump is about to hit the country where it hurts; the US won't tolerate Mexican officials not cooperating.
"The reason we're doing things people don't expect is that we're facing things at the border we never experienced before," Mulvaney added in a later appearance on NBC.
"We're using extraordinary tools because there is extraordinary circumstances that dictate those."
The 5% tariff goes into effect this week.
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But if Mexico doesn't comply, the tariffs will increase each month they refuse to help:
- 10 percent on July 1
- 15 percent on Aug. 1
- 20 percent on Sept. 1
- 25 percent on Oct. 1
Mulvaney said that the Mexico government would need to show development in policing their own southern border, to prove they have taken on board the US demands.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador "hinted his country could tighten migration controls to defuse U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Mexican goods," according to The Associated Press.
Lopez Obrador said that the Mexican government has ramped up immigration enforcement and they are now turning back migrant caravans.
“The main thing is to inform about what we’re already doing on the migration issue, and if it’s necessary to reinforce these measures without violating human rights, we could be prepared to reach that deal,” Lopez Obrador said Sunday.
“We’re doing all we can to reach a deal through dialogue,” he added.
“We’re not going to get into a trade war, a war of tariffs and of taxes.”
Only last week López Obrador slammed Trump saying he is "turning the United States, overnight, from a country of brotherly love for immigrants from around the world, to a bolted space, where there's stigmatizing, mistreatment, abuse, persecution, and a denial of the right to justice to those who seek -- with sacrifice and hard work -- to live free from misery."
The plan is working.
