The US president said the tariff would gradually increase “until the illegal immigration problem is remedied”. Mexico, which relies heavily on cross-border trade, rose to that ranking as a result of Trump’s trade war with China. López Obrador, however, was blunt about the crisis: “President Trump, social problems aren’t resolved with taxes or coercive measures,” he said, defending his administration’s handling of the migration issue. The White House said Trump would use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to implement the tariffs. Asked about the impact of the tariffs on the economy, Mulvaney said illegal immigration was “already impacting the economy negatively”.

Source: The Guardian May 31, 2019 01:01 UTC