Trump: Mexico Has a “Lot of Progress” to Make to Avoid Tariffs

President Trump has been hit with criticism from both parties for his plan to impose escalating economic tariffs against Mexico for their refusal to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States. Even so, the president was unbowed on Thursday as he told reporters that Mexico must make a “lot of progress” if they want to avoid being slapped with the import taxes.

Trump said that Mexico could be doing much more to stop Central American migrants from getting to the southern U.S. border, and he was going to hold their feet to the fire until they proved to him that they were serious about meeting his demands.

“Immigration discussions at the White House with representatives of Mexico have ended for the day,” Trump tweeted. “Progress is being made, but not nearly enough! Border arrests for May are at 133,000 because of Mexico & the Democrats in Congress refusing to budge on immigration reform. Further talks with Mexico will resume tomorrow with the understanding that, if no agreement is reached, Tariffs at the 5% level will begin on Monday, with monthly increases as per schedule. The higher the Tariffs go, the higher the number of companies that will move back to the USA!”

While staying at his golf resort in Ireland this week, Trump told reporters that he was optimistic about making a deal.

“We’re having a great talk with Mexico,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. But something pretty dramatic could happen. We’ve told Mexico the tariffs go on. And I mean it, too. And I’m very happy with it.”

During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised that we would not only build a wall across the southern border but that Mexico would ultimately pay for it. Some have since dismissed that as empty campaign rhetoric, but this is a solid step in that direction. While yes, it’s true – in the short term, it will be American consumers who pay for the hike in prices, that’s only in the short term. In the long run, Mexico will either capitulate to the president’s demands or businesses will flee. This is a win-win situation for America…even if there could be sacrifice temporarily.

And what of that sacrifice? What does it mean in comparison to the national sacrifice we’re making every day that we let this border crisis continue? Would we rather pay a bit more for Mexican-sourced goods today or lose our entire country to a swarm of illegal aliens tomorrow? Because this is the precipice upon which we’re standing. This is the choice.

Thank goodness we have a leader willing to recognize it.