Anybody Think Mexico Can Meet Trump’s Demand to Stop Cartels?
Lies on lies upon lies. The liar in Chief is using misinformation about immigration to slap tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico. Unlike the tariffs Trump placed on Chinese imports, there are no exemptions here, just a blanket tax on all goods crossing the border.
On June 10, all products being imported from Mexico will be subject to a 5% tariff. That duty will gradually ratchet up over the coming months: 10% on July 1, 15% on August 1, 20% on September 1 and 25% on October 1.
In order not to pay Tariffs, if they start rising, companies will leave Mexico, which has taken 30% of our Auto Industry, and come back home to the USA. Mexico must take back their country from the drug lords and cartels. The Tariff is about stopping drugs as well as illegals!--Donald Trump
Tariffs on imports into the United States from Mexico amount to a tax on those products. Businesses who need those products to manufacture their goods will have to charge more for their products to offset the losses. This means that consumers will inevitably take on the added costs.
In 2018, Americans imported $346.5 billion in goods from Mexico, meaning consumers are facing a nearly $87 billion tax increase.
In just over two years, we’ve gone from Mexico will pay for the wall to Americans will pay for the wall plus increased prices on goods made in or made with components from Mexico.
https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1134446157151854597
So what will make the President back off these threats?
Here’s the White House wish list:
A “safe third country” agreement with Mexico. This would mean the U.S. won't have to offer migrants from Central America asylum, putting the onus on Mexico instead.
The White House believes “transnational criminal organizations” are helping migrants travel through Mexico to the U.S. They want these groups stopped.
An increase in efforts to secure the border between Guatemala and the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
The last item is the most likely of the three to happen, though I suspect it will be more window dressing than actual enforcement. The Mexican border guards will have be persuaded to stop taking bribes. Maybe they’ll stop for a day or two, but as soon as the cameras leave it will be back to business as usual.
I’m assuming the President is talking about Mexico’s cartels when he refers to transnational organizations. Welcome to the world of whack-a-mole. The big cartels of yesteryear have fragmented into several, often competing, organizations. Cartel “culture,” however, is a fact of life, touching every part of the economy, and it won’t be stopped by executive orders, Trumps’ tweet, or brute force.
What the administration is really hoping for is Mexico acquiescing to a rule change/treaty saying refugees passing through a third country can’t ask for asylum in the US. For a variety of reasons, this ask is also not going to happen. It would roil internal politics in Mexico and create an economic crisis.
Victory? The scenario I see as most likely to happen is the Trump administration saying border apprehensions are dropping (as they do every year in summer, due to the heat) and declaring victory.
In the meantime, the Mueller report and the rest of the insanity coming out of the White House get bumped down in the news cycle.
Here's Robert De Niro explaining why you should pay attention to the Mueller report:
https://youtu.be/RY1-Q1FT3h0
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Email me at DougPorter@WordsAndDeedsBlog.com