President Trump recently announced that he will be imposing five percent tariffs on Mexico, in hopes of severely deterring illegal immigration into the United States. On June 10, the tariffs will go into effect and will subsequently rise by five percent every month in accordance with the continuation of Central American migration. Members of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce fiercely oppose these new tariffs and explained the future effect on US-Mexico relations.
Jerry Sanders, president and CEO of the chamber, along with many other chamber members claim the new tariffs are a “threat” towards Mexico. Sanders also says, “The implementation of tariffs would have dire consequences on our region’s highly developed integrated supply chain, adversely affecting our local manufacturing and trade-related jobs.” Threats across both sides of the aisle are creating tension that delves deep into the political connection between the U.S. and Mexico.
President Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, called the plan for new tariffs “brilliant” and has praised the president for taking a stand against illegal immigration from Central American nations. He also claimed that Mexico is exporting immigrants into the country, necessitating the implementation of these tariffs.
However, most factories in Mexico are American-owned, and export products into the United States, so eventually American corporations and taxpayers will be paying for these tariffs. The details of this plan should be flushed out further if the president doesn’t want his plan to backfire on him.
Even the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 300 points after the president announced his plan. U.S.-Mexico relations remain in a bit of an unsteady place, but it’s unclear how Trump’s threat of tariffs will impact both illegal immigration and the economy in the months to come.
