The White House announced Thursday that the U.S. will impose a five percent tariff on all Mexican imports beginning on June 10.
“If the illegal migration crisis is alleviated through effective actions taken by Mexico, to be determined in our sole discretion and judgment, the tariffs will be removed,” the White House said in a statement Thursday.
If such actions are not taken, the tariffs will be raised to 10 percent on July 1, 15 percent on August 1 and 25 percent on October 1. They will remain at 25 percent until President Donald Trump deems that Mexico “substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory.”
The U.S. imported $346.5 billion of goods from Mexico in 2018, which amounted to 13.6 percent of all U.S. imports for 2018.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador responded in a letter to President Trump, stating, “I propose to deepen the dialogue, seek alternatives to the immigration problem and, please, remember that I do not lack courage, that I am not cowardly nor timid but that I act on principles: I believe in the policy that, among other things, was invented to avoid confrontation and war.”
President Lopez Obrador requested that U.S. and Mexican officials begin meeting on Friday to discuss solutions.
