President Donald Trump has announced new tariffs on Mexican goods to put pressure on illegal immigration
In an unexpected move, the US has announced that pursuant to powers derived under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, from 10 June it will place a 5% tariff all goods imported from Mexico in an effort to pressure that country into improving its efforts to curb immigration into the US. The announcement stated that tariffs will gradually increase in value to 25% until the illegal immigration problem is “remedied” to the satisfaction of the US administration.
Trump has previously accused the Mexican government of failing to do enough to reduce the number of migrants entering the US in search of asylum from Central American countries such as El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. According to official reports, 80,000 people are currently being held in custody while an average of 4,500 migrants arrive daily, overwhelming the ability of border patrol officials to handle the volume. Thousands of people remain stranded in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, unable to obtain immigration documents, while asylum seekers wait in northern Mexican border cities as their cases are heard in US courts.
The tariff announcement was not well received by Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who penned a two-page response to President Trump. The news also had a negative effect on the stock market with the Mexican peso, US stock index futures and Asian stock markets all falling shortly thereafter. If implemented, the new policy will undoubtedly see corresponding retaliatory measures from Mexico which will have a direct effect on farming and industries in states that have traditionally formed the basis of a large proportion of the US president’s support.
