The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Team Trump floats 20% tax on imports from Mexico
Aide says the tax will pay for the wall; Trump, Mexico President talk on phone
‘MEXICO HAS TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF US FOR LONG ENOUGH’
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump kept up his criticism of Mexico on Friday, saying it “has taken advantage of the US for long enough,” as a crisis over border security and trade deepened. “Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change NOW!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
The White House also suggested on Thursday that the United States could impose a 20 percent tax on goods from Mexico to pay for the wall, sending the peso tumbling.
Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto spoke for an hour by phone Friday amid rising tensions over the US leader’s plans for a border wall, administration officials said. Trump and Pena Nieto had been expected to meet in Washington next week, but the Mexican President abruptly canceled his visit on Thursday. His decision came after Trump moved forward with plans to construct a wall along the Usmexico border and have Mexico pay for construction.
The strong reaction from Mexico signaled a remarkable souring of relations between Washington and one of its most important international partners just days into the new administration. The US and Mexico conduct some $1.6 billion a day in cross-border trade, and cooperate on everything from migration to drug enforcement to major environmental issues.
Two administration officials who confirmed Friday’s phone call insisted on anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss it publicly.
Trump, who took office without any significant foreign policy experience, has moved swiftly in his first week in office to refocus on what he has deemed an “America First’’ policy. His position has left key US allies on edge about their standing with Washington.
Later in the day, the President was to travel to the Pentagon, where he was expected to sign a trio of executive actions, including one to halve the flow of refugees into the United Sates and stop all entries from some majority-muslim nations.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump also intended to sign actions related to military readiness and the National Security Council. Details of those directives were not immediately clear.
According to a draft of the refugee order obtained by The Associated Press, Trump would move to indefinitely stop accepting Syrian refugees. The order also calls for a pause in the nation’s broader refugee programme for at least 120 days.
While at the Pentagon, Trump was expected to meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and attend a ceremonial swearing-in for Defence Secretary James Mattis.
Trump has the authority to determine how many refugees are accepted annually, and he can suspend the program at any time. Refugee processing was suspended in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and restarted months later.
During the past budget year, the U.S. accepted 84,995 refugees, including 12,587 people from Syria. President Barack Obama had set the refugee limit for this budget year at 110,000.
Trump, according to the impending executive order, plans to cut that by more half to 50,000. Thedraftordersaysthatwhilethe programme is suspended, the US may admit people on a case-bycase basis “when in the national interest’’ and the government will continue to process refugee requests from people claiming religious persecution, “provided that the religion... is a minority religion in the individual’s country.’’