Trade war looms over that wall

A TRADE war between the US and Mexico is looming as President Donald Trump exchanged barbs with his Mexican counterpart and the White House threatened a tax on goods coming across the border.

Trump tweeted that Mexico had “taken advantage of the US for long enough”, and that the relationship would change “NOW”.

The statement came after Enrique Peña Nieto, the Mexican president, cancelled a visit to Washington over Trump’s insistence that Mexico pay for a wall on the southern US border.

The two leaders spoke by phone for an hour on Friday and reportedly agreed to stop making public statements about the wall dispute.

Trump was asked about that conversation during his news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May, and said Mexico had “beat us to a pulp” in the past over trade.

“On top of that, the border is soft and weak, drugs are pouring in, and I’m not going to let that happen,” he said, adding that he had a good relationship with Peña Nieto and admiration for the Mexican people.

A day earlier, with relations publicly deteriorating, Trump’s spokesman suddenly announced that the US planned to implement a 20% tax on imports from Mexico to fund the wall. The White House later clarified that the tax was just one of several policies under consideration.

The proposal prompted criticism from across the political spectrum because the tax would force US consumers to pay more for everything from avocados to cars.

Mexico is the US’s thirdlargest trading partner, and millions of US jobs are tied to the relationship. That relationship is even more vital to Mexico’s economy as 80% of exports head north to the US. — © The Daily Telegraph, London