Whether on China, Iran, or Venezuela, the Trump administration’s consistent refrain is “maximum pressure.” Mexico is no different. Thursday evening President Donald Trump announced a new series of tariffs on all imports from Mexico. This is in response to the ongoing migrant crisis along the southern border which has seen over a hundred thousand people enter the United States every month. “Mexico’s passive cooperation in allowing this mass incursion constitutes an emergency and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States,” the president claimed in an official statement.To incentivize the Mexican government into preventing migrants from reaching the U.S. southern border, a 5 percent tariff will be placed on all imports starting on June 10. Trump is doing this by invoking presidential authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which became applicable after his declaration of a national emergency in February. The tariff will subsequently increase 5 percent every month until it reaches 25 percent in October. It will remain at that level until the Trump administration decides the Mexican government is acting enough to prevent migration.
