President Donald Trump poured cold water on the idea that the U.S. and Mexico might reach an agreement by the end of the week that would avoid a 5 percent tariff going into effect on Mexican imports.
“I think it’s more likely that the tariffs go on,” Trump said at a press conference during a state visit to London.
Trump’s comment was in stark contrast to the hopeful comments from Mexican officials that an agreement would be reached.
“I think that we have 80 percent in favor of a negotiation [that would stop tariffs from being implemented], 20 percent that maybe it’s difficult to reach an agreement,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Tuesday at a press conference at the Mexican Embassy in Washington. “I’d suppose that the imposition of tariffs can be avoided.”
Last week, Trump made a surprise announcement that the U.S. would initiate a 5 percent tariff on imports from Mexico unless Mexico does more to stop the cascade of people from Central America crossing its territory to reach the U.S. Trump said the tariffs would kick-in on June 10 and rise 5 percent per month, reach 25 percent by October.
Christian Preacher Scores Big Win for Religious Liberty After Liberal Supreme Court Justice Authors Surprising Opinion
BREAKING: At Least 13 Airports Will Receive ICE Agents to Help with TSA Shortage
SCOTUS conservatives signal readiness to curb late-arriving mail ballots
House GOP targeting vulnerable Dems over DHS shutdown, TSA chaos
Atlanta airport asks travelers to arrive four hours early as ICE comes to help
Despite Trump Policies, Stanford Still Has This Woke DEI Program
Breaking: Trump Orders Halt to All Strikes on Iranian Energy Infrastructure as End to Conflict Near
Supreme Court reverses lower court on qualified immunity for Vermont police sergeant who arrested protester
CNN Tries To Rebrand Anderson Cooper As Podcaster In Sad Grab For Relevance
Taylor Lorenz Wants to Bring Back Masking in the Name of ‘Basic Solidarity’: ‘We’re 6 Years Into a Pandemic’
Power Couple of Chaos: How a tycoon and activist built a ‘Revolutionary Base’ at the House of Singham
Trump orders War Dept to postpone strikes on Iranian energy sites, citing ‘productive’ talks to end war
Two pilots dead after plane collides with fire truck on LaGuardia Airport runway and more top headlines
Iran’s Alarming Long-Range Missile Capacity Revealed After Regime Fired at US-UK Base 2,500 Miles Away
Dem Senate candidate in the hot seat after anti-meat comment resurfaces: ‘This will haunt him’
On Tuesday in London, Trump reiterated those plans. He also said that he did not think Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill would act to block the tariffs, saying it would be “foolish” to do so.
Trump has told close aides in similar situations that he thinks it is often necessary to apply tariffs first and negotiate deals afterward in order to prove he is not bluffing. He sees tariffs as motivating other countries that want access to U.S. consumers to make concessions in negotiations.
Story cited here.
