(AFP) – President-elect Donald Trump said that Mexico’s leader had agreed to “stop” migration in talks Wednesday, effectively closing the southern US border, in claims that went further than his counterpart’s account of a discussion about migration “strategy.”
“Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately,” Trump said on social media, hailing progress in ending what he called an “illegal invasion,” which he has promised to tackle when he takes office in January. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not immediately respond to Trump’s remarks, which appeared to imply a major agreement between the United States and Mexico. She had earlier shared brief details of the talks alongside a picture of her smiling during a phone call.
“We discussed Mexico’s strategy on the migration phenomenon and I shared that caravans are not arriving at the northern border because they are being taken care of in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said on X. They also discussed “strengthening collaboration on security issues” as well as “the campaign we are conducting in the country to prevent the consumption of fentanyl,” the president said.
Trump’s comments came after he said on social media Monday that he would impose tariffs of 25 percent on Mexican and Canadian imports and 10 percent on goods from China. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page. The Republican, who won an election in which illegal migration was a top issue, has vowed to declare a national emergency on border security and use the US military to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented migrants.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Wednesday some “400,000 jobs will be lost” in the United States if Trump followed through on his threat. He cited a study based on figures from US carmakers that manufacture in Mexico.
Ebrard said the tariffs would also hit US consumers hard, citing the US market for pickup trucks — most of which are manufactured in Mexico. The tariffs, the minister said, would add $3,000 to the cost of a new vehicle. “The impact of this measure will chiefly be felt by consumers in the United States… That is why we say that it would be a shot in the foot,” Ebrard told reporters, speaking alongside Sheinbaum at her regular morning conference.
Mexico and China have been particularly vociferous in their opposition to Trump’s threats of a trade war from day one of his second presidential term, which begins on January 20. Sheinbaum has declared the threats “unacceptable” and pointed out that Mexico’s drug cartels exist mainly to serve drug use in the United States. China has warned that “no one will win a trade war.”
During his first term as president, Trump launched full-blown trade hostilities with Beijing, imposing significant tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods. China responded with retaliatory tariffs on American products, particularly affecting US farmers. The United States, Mexico, and Canada are tied to a three-decade-old largely duty-free trade agreement, called the USMCA, that was renegotiated under Trump after he complained that US businesses, especially automakers, were losing out.
© 2024 AFP
