Trump Sees ‘Good Chance’ of Deal With Mexico to Avert Tariffs
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
President Donald Trump said there’s a “good chance” the United States will reach agreement to avert imposing trade tariffs on Mexico and that the deal would require the country to buy more U.S. agricultural products.
But Trump also warned in a tweet June 7 that if there’s no accord, Mexico will begin paying 5% tariffs on all goods sent to the U.S. starting June 10.
“If we are able to make the deal with Mexico, & there is a good chance that we will, they will begin purchasing Farm & Agricultural products at very high levels, starting immediately,” Trump wrote without specifying the terms. “If we are unable to make the deal, Mexico will begin paying Tariffs at the 5% level on Monday!”
If we are able to make the deal with Mexico, & there is a good chance that we will, they will begin purchasing Farm & Agricultural products at very high levels, starting immediately. If we are unable to make the deal, Mexico will begin paying Tariffs at the 5% level on Monday! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2019
The peso extended its advance against the U.S. dollar on Trump’s tweet, while Treasuries further pared their gains.
The United States plans to issue notice June 7 to pave the way for tariffs on June 10 but could decide before then to delay the move as talks continue over a surge in illegal migration, a top White House aide said.
Negotiators from the two countries resumed talks in Washington on June 7 aimed at reaching a deal.
Despite progress so far, “there’s a long way to go still, that’s the bottom line. And so the legal teams are talking today, and we’ll see how that progresses,” Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, told reporters at the White House.
Trump is returning June 7 from a weeklong trip to the United Kingdom, France and Ireland. Mexican officials have sought a delay for the tariffs to have more time to negotiate a response to the migration surge, but the United States has made clear that the final decision is up to Trump.
As of now, “we’re moving forward with the tariffs and they will go into effect Monday,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters June 7 on Air Force One before departing Ireland.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said earlier June 7 he’s optimistic the countries will reach an agreement.
“Unfortunately, there’s a mixing of migration with commercial matters,” he said. “It’s not taking into account what’s happening in Central America, the profound crisis taking place.”
More than 144,000 people were apprehended after illegally crossing the southern border in May or were refused entry to the United States. That’s the most in a single month in at least five years; the number has grown every month since January.
In one proposal, Mexico would deploy 6,000 national guard troops to its own southern border region to discourage migrants from crossing into the country from Guatemala, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said June 6.
