Thread: MEXICO SAYS IT WILL RETALIATE IF TRUMP IMPOSES BORDER TAX

BY REUTERS ON 2/24/17 AT 8:47 PM

An emboldened Mexico hardened its opposition to President Donald Trump on Friday by saying it would retaliate if the United States imposed a border tax and that it can afford to lose financial aid that might be pulled to pay for a border wall.

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said Mexico could respond to any tax the United States were to unilaterally impose on imports from its southern neighbor to finance the wall with levies on select goods, aimed at U.S. regions most dependent on exports south of the border.

"Without a doubt, we have that possibility, and what we cannot do is remain with our arms crossed," Videgaray said in a radio interview. "The Mexican government would have to respond."

The statements by Videgaray and Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who minimized the potential impact of the rumored loss of U.S. security aid, toughened the defiant tone from Mexico since President Enrique Pena Nieto last month canceled a trip to meet Trump over the wall dispute.

Mexicans are angry at Trump's calls for U.S. firms not to invest south of the border, insults to immigrants and threats to make Mexico finance the border wall. The peso currency has weakened on concerns he will hurt Latin America's No. 2 economy.


A U.S. flag is seen next to a section of the wall separating Mexico and the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico, January 28.
JORGE DUENES/REUTERS

Pena Nieto had faced criticism he was too accommodating with Trump but got a much needed ratings boost after cancelling the summit. A plan to deport third-country nationals to Mexico fueled outrage this week.

Mexican officials were publicly blunt with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security John Kelly over Trump's immigration and trade proposals in a visit to Mexico on Thursday.

Videgaray said the trade strategy would replicate a 2009 campaign of retaliatory tariffs that helped Mexican win a dispute with the United States. On Wednesday, the minister mentioned Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin as states that could be targeted in a conversation with lawmakers leaked to two newspapers.

"This is not our preference," he said. "Mexico believes in free trade."

No Handouts Please

A U.S. executive order on Jan. 25 that mandated the construction of a border wall also required government agencies to report the financial assistance they gave Mexico in the past five years, leading to speculation Trump wants to redirect the aid to pay for its construction.

Interior Minister Osorio Chong said on Friday that Mexico had no need for such financial aid from the United States, signaling that it would not come close to paying for the estimated $21.6 billion cost of the wall.

Like in other middle-income emerging economies, many in Mexico consider it humiliating to take aid from wealthy countries.

A large part of U.S. aid to Mexico comes through the Plan Merida program, under which the U.S. Congress allocated $2.6 billion to security assistance between 2008 and 2016.

Of that, $1.6 billion had been disbursed by November 2016, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

"When they realize what's left of Merida, they will understand that it's not even that significant," Osorio Chong told local radio.

"We don't object to them moving these resources... Mexico now has its own capabilities," he said.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said on Friday it will accept proposals next month for the design of Trump's wall, a first step in picking vendors.

Videgaray said a meeting of Tillerson, Kelly and Pena Nieto in Mexico City was a short courtesy visit.

He said in a more substantial meeting of the ministers, Kelly told him that deportations of undocumented immigrants from the United States would not be militarized, after Trump characterized the process as a "military operation."

http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump...der-tax-560696

I think we should just build the wall, cut all financial aid to Mexico, because they said here they can get by without it, and pass the FairTax which taxes all imports at the same rate that domestic products are taxed. This levels the playing field 100% without a controversial border adjustment tax or new tariffs. You can always add tariffs. Nothing in the FairTax legislation prevents that, meanwhile, under the FairTax, we're taxing all imports sold in the United States whether it's from Mexico or China, South Korea or Great Britain. It's uniform across the board, it's a tax paid by retail consumers. Today, our companies pay tax whereas the foreign exporters to the US do not.

The FairTax solves so many problems. Serious people trying to solve our problems really need to get a solid grasp on what it does for our people and country.

Cut off the aid to Mexico and Central America. No more extortion money. Now is the best time to do it.

E-verify ALL Government Benefits including public school, the IRS, and give illegals a "Notice of Termination of Benefits". No enrollment for school in the Fall. Send the notices in June when they get out so they know...you will NOT be able to attend our schools. Our schools are overcrowded and need to be overhauled. No more ESL classes! You can't speak English...then you do not get placed in the classroom. Go take English only until you can. Stop holding back our students.

Tax the remittances sent out of the Country at 5% or 10%.

Deem all Driver's Licenses issued to illegals Null and Void

Load up Military Transport planes packed full and ramp up deportations

Make them Self Deport is the best way to force thousands of them out of here.

Like in other middle-income emerging economies, many in Mexico consider it humiliating to take aid from wealthy countries.

Building their "middle income" off of the looting of their neighbor. Mexico is NOT our friend and it appears that it never has been. JMO

Use the confiscated drugs/money for the wall.

Originally Posted by Judy

I think we should just build the wall, cut all financial aid to Mexico, because they said here they can get by without it, and pass the FairTax which taxes all imports at the same rate that domestic products are taxed. This levels the playing field 100% without a controversial border adjustment tax or new tariffs. You can always add tariffs. Nothing in the FairTax legislation prevents that, meanwhile, under the FairTax, we're taxing all imports sold in the United States whether it's from Mexico or China, South Korea or Great Britain. It's uniform across the board, it's a tax paid by retail consumers. Today, our companies pay tax whereas the foreign exporters to the US do not.

The FairTax solves so many problems. Serious people trying to solve our problems really need to get a solid grasp on what it does for our people and country.

http://www.fairtaxfraud.com/fallout.asp