Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
White House Says Tariffs 'Going Forward' as Talks Continue
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
June 7, 2019

Share

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on Mexico are set to take effect Monday as planned, the White House said Friday, even as negotiators continued to meet to try to stave off his latest push to force the U.S. ally to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States.

“Our position has not changed. The tariffs are going forward as of Monday.” — White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders
“Our position has not changed,” spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters in Ireland before Trump headed back to Washington from his European trip. “The tariffs are going forward as of Monday.”
Talks resumed meanwhile at the State Department, and Trump has received regular updates from Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his trip to Europe. Sanders said officials had “made a lot of progress” but not enough.
The initial 5% tax on all Mexican goods, which would increase every month up to 25%, could ultimately have enormous economic implications for both countries. Americans bought $378 billion worth of Mexican imports last year, led by cars and auto parts. Many members of Trump’s Republican Party and business allies have urged him to reconsider — or at least postpone actually implementing the tariffs as talks continue — citing the potential harm to American consumers and manufacturers.
Trump has nonetheless embraced tariffs as a political tool he can use to force countries to comply with his demands — in this case on his signature issue of immigration.
White House officials appeared to deliver mixed messages as they awaited Trump’s return to the White House. Economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump could delay the tariffs, while Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, stressed that “there’s still a long way to go.”
Photo of Mike Pence
Vice President Mike Pence speaks at JLS Automation in York, Pa., Thursday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Mexico Offered Small, Undisclosed Concessions

“When the president lands, they’re going to present him with, basically, the state of affairs and then the president’s going to make a judgment about next steps,” Hassett told Fox Business Network. He cited “a lot of positive movement” in recent days.
Either way, Trump appears poised to invoke an emergency declaration that would allow him to put the tariffs into effect, according to people monitoring the talks.
“You should anticipate that happening today,” Short told reporters, adding that, “if negotiations continue to go well,” Trump “can turn that off at some point over the weekend.”
During the first round of talks Wednesday, the gulf between the countries was clear. Mexico offered small and so far undisclosed concessions; the U.S. demanded major action. The U.S. once again pressed Mexico to step up enforcement on its southern border and to enter into a “safe third country agreement” that would make it difficult for those who enter Mexico from other countries to claim asylum in the U.S. Mexico has long resisted that request.
Trump officials have said Mexico can prevent the tariffs by securing its southern border with Guatemala, cracking down on criminal smuggling organizations and overhauling its asylum system. But the U.S. has not proposed concrete benchmarks to assess whether Mexico is complying, and it is unclear whether even those steps would be enough to satisfy Trump on illegal immigration, an issue he sees as crucial to his 2020 re-election campaign.
In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador would not say whether he would accept his country agreeing to be a “safe third country.” But unlike on previous occasions, he didn’t rule it out.

Republicans in Congress Ready to Stand up to President

“That is being looked at,” López Obrador said Friday morning during his daily news conference, where he held out hope a deal could be reached before Monday’s deadline.

“There is time. … It is still Friday. I am optimistic that an agreement will be reached.” — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador
“There is time. … It is still Friday. I am optimistic that an agreement will be reached,” he said.
In addition, Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday his country had agreed to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops to its border with Guatemala to help control the flow of migrants as part of its concessions.
Beyond Trump and several White House advisers, few in his administration believe the tariffs are a good idea, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations. Those people worry about the negative economic consequences for Americans and believe the tariffs — which would likely spark retaliatory taxes on U.S. exports — would also hurt the administration politically. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Republicans in Congress have warned the White House that they are ready to stand up to the president to try to block his tariffs, which they worry would spike costs to U.S. consumers, harm the economy and imperil a major pending U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions of migrants illegally crossing the border hit the highest level in more than a decade in May: 132,887 apprehensions, including a record 84,542 adults and children traveling together and 11,507 children traveling alone.

DON'T MISS

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

DON'T MISS

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

DON'T MISS

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

DON'T MISS

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

DON'T MISS

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

DON'T MISS

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

DON'T MISS

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

DON'T MISS

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

DON'T MISS

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

No data was found

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

1 hour ago

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

2 hours ago

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

4 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

5 hours ago

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

5 hours ago

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

5 hours ago

Fresno County Tackles Animal Overpopulation with New Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Program

6 hours ago

Fallen Crypto Mogul Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

6 hours ago

When Newsom Gives His State of the State, He Should Be Candid About California’s Economy

6 hours ago

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

6 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The top United Nations court on Thursday ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in G...

5 mins ago

5 mins ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

33 mins ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

1 hour ago

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

1 hour ago

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

2 hours ago

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

4 hours ago

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

5 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

5 hours ago

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend