To stop ‘illegal migrants’, Donald Trump says US will impose 5 per cent tariff on all goods from Mexico
- US president says levy will be imposed starting June 10, with tariffs gradually increasing until immigration problem is remedied
- Mexico responded, calling Trump’s policy of America First ‘a fallacy’ and accusing him of turning the United States into a ‘ghetto’
President Donald Trump said that he would impose a 5 per cent tariff on Mexican goods until that country stops immigrants from entering the US illegally – brandishing a weapon used against a widening group of countries, especially China, and jeopardising a new North American trade pact.
The tariff would take effect June 10, “until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our country, STOP”, Trump said in a Twitter post.
He warned that the levy “would gradually increase until the illegal immigration problem is remedied at which time the tariff will be removed”. The tariffs could rise as high as 25 per cent on October 1, Trump said in a statement released by the White House.
“If the illegal migration crisis is alleviated through effective actions taken by Mexico, to be determined in our sole discretion and judgment, the tariffs will be removed,” Trump said.
The move, which has major implications for American carmakers and other companies with production south of the border and the US economy as a whole, represents Trump’s latest expansion of his trade wars. And some analysts say it makes the prospect for a US-China trade deal even more remote.