Pence Meets with Mexican Officials for Import Tariffs

IMPORT TARIFFS – US Vice President Mike Pence is hosting a White House meeting with Mexican officials to discuss possible trade tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump. The meeting will have the immigration problem between the two countries as the central issue.

Last week, Trump shook the world by announcing that he would impose 5 percent tariffs on all imports coming from Mexico.

The tariffs would gradually rise to as much as 25 percent later in the year, unless Mexico demonstrates dramatic tightening in its immigration laws.

US authorities at the southern border with Mexico have been overwhelmed in recent years by a rise in the number of mostly Central American family immigrants.

Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard will be present at the meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Ebrard has said that the tariffs, if implemented, would be devastating to Mexico’s economy and wouldn’t be enough to stop the waves of migrants from crossing the southern border.

Ebrard and the Mexican delegation will try to show the White House that authorities are keeping their best efforts to halt the flow of illegal migrants.

However, leftist Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said that he aims to convince the US to help resolve the migrant issue by investing in Central America to create jobs and hasten the economic development.

Repercussions

During the commemoration of the D-Day landings in Britain, Trump said that it was “likely” that he would follow through with the first wave of Mexican tariffs next week.

However, Trump has already faced major pushback from the Republicans, his own party. Lawmakers are concerned with the effects that the tariffs could have on cross-border trade as well as US businesses and consumers.

“We’re not real fond of tariffs, so don’t assume you can have the exact same level of support. That was my basic message,” said Senator Ron Johnson.

The potential tariffs also threatened the future of the three-way deal with Canada, called the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is set to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.