President Trump said Tuesday that his administration would likely go ahead and impose new tariffs on Mexico on Monday despite talks this week between the White House and Mexican officials to resolve the situation.
The comments came just hours after Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he believed that a deal was close that would prevent the tariffs.
“We’re going to see if we can do something, but I think it’s more likely that the tariffs go on,” Trump told reporters in London.
Earlier in the day, López Obrador told reporters in Mexico City, “There are signs that it matters to the U.S. officials that there’s a deal. I think the meeting tomorrow [between negotiators in Washington D.C.] will be important and that there will be a deal before June 10, before this tariff comes into effect.”
Trump said Thursday he would place a 5% tariff on all Mexican goods, increasing 5% every month until the “illegal immigration problem is remedied.” Business groups and some GOP lawmakers have called on the president to back away from the threats, saying the tariffs would likely harm the U.S. economy without resolving the border issue. Mexico has warned of possible trade retaliation of its own.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who is leading the delegation to work out a compromise, said he was optimistic the tariffs could be prevented. “We’re going to find common ground, I think,” he told reporters Tuesday.
Trump, however, said that curbing immigration took precedence. “Mexico should step up and stop this onslaught, this invasion into our country,” he said.
