Trump renews Mexico tariff threat amid row over migration deal
US President Donald Trump renewed his threat Monday to slap tariffs on Mexico as controversy erupted over what exactly is in the countries’ new migration deal, which the Mexican government admitted would be reviewed in 45 days.
Trump resumed his pressure on Mexico in a series of tweets, three days after granting a reprieve from tariffs that could have spelled disaster for the country’s economy -- his strategy to get the Mexican government to do more to stop the surge of Central Americans arriving at the US border.
Trump alluded to mysterious secret provisions in the deal that he said would have to be approved by the Mexican Congress. “If for any reason the approval is not forthcoming, Tariffs will be reinstated!” he said.
He did not go into details, but Mexico said it had agreed to discuss one of Trump’s top demands, a so-called “safe third country agreement” -- in which migrants entering Mexican territory must apply for asylum there rather than the US -- if the flow of undocumented Central Americans continues.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who led the Mexican negotiating team in marathon talks in Washington last week, said he had rebuffed the US demand for such a measure, but agreed to revisit the matter in 45 days.
“In the meeting with the vice president of the United States, they were insistent on the safe third country issue,” Ebrard told a press conference.
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