Trump threatens more tariffs if second, unrevealed accord not approved
United States President Donald Trump today threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican exports if Mexicoâs Congress doesnât approve an unrevealed part of the migration agreement that the two countries reached last week.
âWe have fully signed and documented another very important part of the immigration and security deal with Mexico, one that the U.S. has been asking about getting for many years. It will be revealed in the not too distant future and will need a vote by Mexicoâs legislative body!â Trump said on Twitter.
âWe do not anticipate a problem with the vote but, if for any reason the approval is not forthcoming, tariffs will be reinstated!The new threat comes just three days after Trump announced that the United States and Mexico had
reached an agreement that averted a 5% tariff on all Mexican goods that would have taken effect today.
As part of the deal, Mexico committed to sending
6,000 National Guard troops to the southern border and agreed to allow all migrants seeking asylum in the United States to remain in Mexico while they await a decision from authorities in the U.S.
We have fully signed and documented another very important part of the Immigration and Security deal with Mexico, one that the U.S. has been asking about getting for many years. It will be revealed in the not too distant future and will need a vote by Mexicoâs Legislative body!..
Ebrard said the measures Mexico agreed to with respect to reducing the movement of Central American migrants will be evaluated after 45 days.
He explained that there is no specific migration reduction target but noted that United States authorities want to cut the number to zero.
However, Ebrard claimed that any reduction in the number of migrants crossing the northern border would show that the steps taken by Mexico are working.
If the results arenât favorable, Mexico will once again sit down with the United States as well as Central and South American countries to develop a âregional systemâ to address migration causes, the foreign secretary said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended more than 132,000 people who entered the country between ports of entry in May, the highest monthly level since 2006, and
almost 200,000 undocumented migrants were arrested in April and May.
Trump used the rising arrest numbers to justify
the escalating tariffs he planned to impose on Mexico, and to pressure the country to do more to stem migration flows.
While there are concerns that the large deployment of the National Guard to the southern border could undermine the new security forceâs capacity to combat high levels of violence in other parts of the country, Ebrard has won praise for reaching an agreement that averts a trade war with Mexicoâs largest trading partner.
At a large political rally in Tijuana on Saturday, the foreign secretary was given a rousing reception by citizens and the municipal, state and federal politicians who were in attendance, including President LĂłpez Obrador and 23 governors.
Addressing the crowd, Ebrard said âIâm arriving from Washington . . . if you can tell that Iâm a little tired itâs because we worked a lot of hours to avoid . . . the imposition of tariffs on Mexico on Monday.â
âThere are no tariffs . . . and we left with our dignity intact,â the foreign secretary declared after which the rally attendees broke into rapturous applause and chanted âMarcelo! Marcelo!â
Ebrard said the tariffs would have been catastrophic for the Mexican economy, charging that foreign investment would have dropped, jobs would have been lost, prices would have risen and that ratification of the new North American trade deal would have been placed in doubt.
While the foreign secretary won widespread acclaim for âdefusing Trumpâ â as one Mexican newspaper headline declared â the praise for Ebrard and the federal government wasnât universal.
The national president of the opposition National Action Party accused the government of being submissive to the United States.
âItâs good that the threat of tariffs on Mexican products hasnât materialized but itâs wrong . . . that in exchange for that, Mexico has agreed to do the United Statesâ dirty work. By submitting to and accepting Trumpâs conditions without bargaining, LĂłpez Obrador sullied our sovereignty,â Marko CortĂŠs said.
âThe president owes Mexicans an explanation because with what is known up to now, weâre going to become part of the wall that Donald Trump so desires.â
Nevertheless, LĂłpez Obrador said today that he was âvery happyâ with the agreement struck with the United States, declaring that an âeconomic and financial crisisâ was avoided.
The president also said he will meet with his cabinet today to âstrengthen all the [governmentâs] development, well-being and migrant-support policies.â
Source: Reuters (sp), El Financiero (sp), El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)