The hypocrisy and ideology of the Mexican position would indicate the tariffs are certain to take place. Factually, after Mexico has made their “red line” position clear, one could argue there’s no reason to go through the graduated timeline; the U.S. might as well just start applying the full 25% tariff amount on June 10th.
WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico said on Monday it would reject a U.S. idea to take in all Central American asylum seekers if it is raised at talks this week with the Trump administration, which has threatened to impose tariffs if Mexico does not crack down on illegal immigration.
[…] Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the country was committed to continuing to work to keep migrants from Central America from reaching the U.S. border.
He said, however, that a proposal favored by some U.S. officials to designate Mexico a “safe third country,” which would force Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States to apply for it instead in Mexico, was not an option.
“An agreement about a safe third country would not be acceptable for Mexico,” Ebrard told reporters in Washington. “They have not yet proposed it to me. But it would not be acceptable and they know it.”
[…] Mexican Agriculture Minister Victor Villalobos said in a statement the proposed tariffs would cause economic damage to the agriculture sector of $117 million a month in both countries. He did not specify at what level of tariffs that damage would occur.
[…] Mexican trade officials said last week that they would retaliate if the tariffs were imposed, although they did not provide details on what the response would be.
U.S.-based Mexican-themed fast-food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc estimated a $15 million hit from the proposed tariffs, and said it could cover that by raising its burrito prices by around 5 cents.
U.S. business groups have opposed the tariff plan and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is looking at ways to challenge it, including legal options.
[…] The Mexican economy, which is heavily reliant on exports to the United States, shrank in the first quarter and would reel under U.S. levies that would start at 5% but could reach as high as 25% this year under Trump’s plan.
Goldman Sachs economists gave a 70% chance of the tariffs on Mexican imports coming into effect at 5% on June 10.
As a proportion of Mexico’s total U.S. exports in 2018 – $347 billion, according to U.S. data – a 5% tariff implies costs of roughly $1 billion between June 10 and 30. (read more)
According to another report: “U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he told Mexican Economy Secretary Graciela Marquez in a meeting on Monday that Mexico must do more to help the United States address illegal immigration.” The good thing is Wilbur Ross has been activated.
The U.S. economy is $20 trillion. If Mexican imports are $347 billion total, that’s around 2% of our total economy. Yeah, worst case scenario a burrito goes up a nickel… De nada.
Here’s what Mexico will really do. As they previously said, if Trump goes ahead with a full immigration confrontation, Mexico will try to flood the U.S. with illegal aliens and drugs.
Blackmail is the reality of the unspoken Mexican approach at diplomacy.
♦ In August of 2017 President Trump and Commerce Secretary Ross were discussing their trade efforts within NAFTA and renegotiation with Mexico/Canada on a trilateral basis. However, the U.S. administration said if it doesn’t work, they’d scrap the 3-way NAFTA deal and go one-on-one with individual bilateral agreements. In response, Mexican Economic Minister Ildefonso Guajardo threatened to flood the U.S. with South American illegal aliens, criminals and gang members as leverage:
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico could pull back on cooperation in migration and security matters if the United States walks away from talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Mexican economy minister said in a newspaper report published on Thursday.
“If they do not treat [us] well commercially, they should not expect us to treat them well by containing the migration that comes from other regions of the world and crosses Mexico,” Guajardo said. “Or they should not expect to be treated well in collaboration with security issues in the region.” (LINK)
However, Mexican Minister Ildefonso Guarjardo’s threat was mild compared to a threat in January 2017, when another Mexican official promised to flood the U.S. with South American drugs and gang violence:
♦ In a stunning segment on Fareed Zakaria’s CNN broadcast January 29th, 2017, Mexico’s former foreign minister, Jorge Castaneda, states the Mexican government was willing to counter U.S. President Donald Trump policy by unleashing drug cartels upon the U.S. border.
Watch, and more importantly LISTEN, to his words at 02:10 below (Prompted):
Trump should add a 50% fee for all money wired south of the border.
And what a wonderful job they are doing, too. What have they choked it down to… almost 100,000 a month? Does the Mexican government really think they are still dealing with someone like Obama, someone so stupid as to believe their weak BS?
What are they going to do, cut off our supply of illegal immigrants?
Sort of indicates, oh, I don’t know… collusion with drug cartels?
Only extreme measures are going to get the attention of those who choose to ignore the dangers and burden on the taxpayers. Border Patrol recently caught over a hundred illegal immigrants from Africa (regions where Ebola is being battled) crossing our borders. What is Mexico doing allowing them into their country? Mexico needs harsh treatment to realize we are now serious.
@Deplorable Me: Difficult dealing with a failed state. The congress could help by reforming immigration and funding the wall but they are to busy trying to destroy the country.
@kitt: In LA, liberals are protesting proposals for additional homeless shelters because… surprise… they would encroach upon their neighborhoods. Likewise, they object to having their beloved illegal immigrants brought to their cities. They love the concept throwing money and charity around, just as long as it is someone else’s. Until they, like Mexico, suffers, they can’t be negotiated with. Unfortunately, it will be necessary for other Americans to suffer (slightly) to get the attention of these idiots.
@Deplorable Me:
Oh, my, American consumers of Mexican products are going to have to pay an additional 5% on their purchases. American consumers are going to be hurt. The sky is falling.
Of course, the very people shouting this mantra ignores the fact that the American “consumer” pays a heck of a lot more than that in taxes to support their school districts just to educate the illegal children in our nation. Or the increased budgets for police forces that have to hire more officers to deal with crimes committed by illegals (while we import more criminals) that the American “consumer” has to foot the bill for that via their taxes.
Mexico long ago ceased to be a friend of the U.S. When are American citizens going to realize that? Anyone even curious why the current bulk of illegals are NOT from Mexico? Because our manufacturing jobs went to Mexico and they have strict rules on who can work in Mexico, unlike the U.S., i.e. you have to be a legal resident of Mexico to work there.
Put strong enough tariffs on Mexico and watch our manufacturing jobs come back home because…………………it will be cheaper to produce here than in Mexico.