At a rally on Monday, former President Donald Trump said he would put a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico unless it does something about the onslaught of immigrants coming over the southern border.
"We're being invaded by Mexico. But now we have a new president of Mexico. Supposed to — a very nice woman, they say. I haven't met her," Trump said in North Carolina. "And I'm going to inform her on day one, or sooner, that if they don't stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I'm going to immediately impose a 25% on everything they send into the United States of America."
Trump said he would continue to escalate the tariff by 25% if Mexico did not do enough to control the influx of migrants. He said his idea had a 100% chance of working.
According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, trade between the U.S. and Mexico totaled $855 billion in 2022, with $500 billion coming from goods imported from Mexico.
Last month, Trump suggested he could impose tariffs higher than 200% on vehicles imported from Mexico, saying his aim would be to prevent the selling of cars from Mexico into the United States.
"All I'm doing is saying 'I'll put 200 or 500, I don't care.' I'll put a number where they can't sell one car," he said in an interview. "I don't want them hurting our car companies."
Trump previously threatened large tariffs on cars from Mexico as president and as a candidate in 2016. Imposing up to 25% tariffs on Mexican autos and components could have severe impacts on the industry and hike vehicle costs, automakers said in 2019.
At Trump's instigation, in 2018 the United States, Mexico, and Canada renegotiated North America's free-trade agreement, adding provisions that U.S. officials said would keep more of the heavily regionalized auto manufacturing sector in the United States.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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