Trump: More to Mexico deal
President lifts tariff threat in immigration dispute
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Sunday that there’s more to his deal with Mexico on tariffs and immigration than he announced two days ago, but he offered no specifics.
Trump tweeted that there were some things Mexico said it would do to curb Central American migration that were “not mentioned” in a description of the agreement put out by the State Department. He said those further steps would be “announced at the appropriate time.”
When pressed in a television interview on whether Mexico agreed to further measures, Ambassador to the United States Martha Bárcena said there were “details” that didn’t make it in the official declaration.
Trump gave Mexico an ultimatum, demanding that it take stronger action to limit the flow of Central American migrants or he would impose an escalating series of tariffs on the country beginning Monday.
Friday, he said he was “indefinitely” suspending the threat because of an agreement reached with Mexico.
The New York Times reported Saturday that the steps outlined in the deal were ones Mexico had already agreed to in previous rounds of negotiations.
The administration said Mexico agreed to take “unprecedented steps to increase enforcement” along its southern border with Guatemala, where many Central Americans cross into Mexico on their way to the USA. Mexico said it would crack down on human smuggling organizations.
When asked about Trump’s tweet on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Bárcena said only that there were “details that we discussed during the negotiations and during the conversations that we didn’t put in the declaration.”
Saturday morning, Trump tweeted that Mexico reached a deal with the
“If past is prologue, this is likely to be one of the president’s typical, bogus solutions to justify backing off things like the tariffs.”
Charles Schumer
Senate minority leader
United States to purchase American agricultural goods as part of a larger deal to avoid the imposition of tariffs on Mexican goods.
Asked on “Face the Nation” whether there was a new agricultural deal, Bárcena brought up the United StatesMexico-Canada trade agreement signed last November, saying it would lead to increased trade.
She insisted on Twitter that she “did not contradict” Trump. “I just explained that with no tariffs and the USMCA ratification the trade in agricultural products will increase dramatically,” Bárcena said.
Republicans praised Trump’s strategy on pressing Mexico, though many oppose tariffs. On “Fox News Sunday,” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, called Trump’s actions “brilliant” when asked whether Republican senators would stand up against tariffs. He said the migrant crisis was “out of control” so Trump “had to act.”
Democrats called the dispute over tariffs a crisis of Trump’s own making.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York wrote on Twitter that “if past is prologue, this is likely to be one of the president’s typical, bogus solutions to justify backing off things like the tariffs.”
“Threats and temper tantrums are no way to negotiate foreign policy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement released Saturday.