Thread: Trump: Tax on imports from Mexico to pay for border wall

Trump mulls 20% border tax on Mexico; aides later call it just an option
USA TODAY


Americans may pay more for beer, snacks and cars to build border wall- USA TODAY


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Americans may pay more for beer, snacks and cars to build border wall

Charisse Jones , USA TODAY Published 6:52 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2017 | Updated 14 minutes ago


(Photo: Rebecca Blackwell, AP)


American consumers may have to pay more for products ranging from Toyotas to vegetables to beer, if a proposal by President Donald Trump to impose a 20% tariff on Mexican imports goes into effect.

Trump has floated the new tax as a possible way to finance a wall that would straddle the border separating the U.S. from what is currently its third largest partner in the trade of goods, according to the U.S. Trade Representative.

William Gale, co-director of the Tax Policy Center. says that while a stronger dollar could minimize the pain U.S. shoppers feel, “the irony of putting a tariff on Mexican goods is that, to the extent it raises consumer prices in the U.S., consumers will be paying for the wall, not Mexican producers.’’

Mexico sent $295 billion worth of goods across the U.S. border in 2015, the USTR says. Overall, U.S. imports from its southern neighbor peaked at $316.4 billion that year. That's in contrast to Mexican-bound exports from the U.S. that amounted to $267.2 billion.

The biggest import is cars, with the U.S. spending $74 billion in 2015 for the hundreds of thousands of Chevrolet and Ram trucks, as well as Fords, Hondas, and Nissans that are assembled in Mexican factories.

Trump mulls 20% border tax on Mexico; aides later call it just an option

But cars are far from the only product that U.S. importers bring in from Mexico. Other key categories include machinery, medical instruments, and mineral fuels.The country is also the U.S.’ second-biggest provider of agricultural products, with imports amounting to $21 billion in 2015.

“It is very troubling for world food and agricultural markets for Administration spokespersons to bandy about terms like a 20% tax on all imports from Mexico or other countries,’’ Tom Stenzel, President and CEO of the United Fresh Produce Association said in a statement. “Consider the impact on American consumers of a 20% hike in the cost of foods such as bananas, mangoes and other products that we simply cannot grow in the United States. Consider also what other countries would do to block U.S. exports in retaliation. As the Administration looks to incentivize manufacturing jobs in the U.S., we urge President Trump to consider the unique nature of food and not place a new food tax on American consumers.”

Fresh vegetables purchased from Mexico totaled $4.8 billion in 2015, according to the USTR. Snack food imports totaled $1.7 billion, while wine and beer $2.7 billion and processed fruit and vegetables peaked at $1.4 billion two years ago.

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Representative Lloyd Doggett, (D-Tx) said in a statement that a tariff would not only "disrupt Texas commerce with our most important trading partner, but it would raise consumer prices by 20% on many goods, like so much of the fresh produce upon which we rely at this time of year.''

Companies like Toyota and Honda have flocked across the border, not only lured by low wages, but to tap into a skilled labor force and Mexico’s multitude of trade deals with countries across the globe.

The U.S. has made use of services from Mexico in transportation, travel, technology and other industries. Such imports amounted to roughly $21.6 billion in 2015, 11% more than the year before, and roughly 191% more than what was spent on imported services in 1993, before NAFTA.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...wall/97108358/

Trump team walks back plan to fund wall with import tax - POLITICO

www.politico.com/story/.../trump-tax-mexican-imports-pay-for-border-wall-234239

7 hours ago - White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested a tax on imports could fund the border security measure before backing off the proposal. ... White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday walked back his statement that President Donald Trump supports a plan to tax imports in ...

I like starting out with blocking all remittances of illegal aliens until they're all deported. That should pay for the wall. Of course deporting illegal aliens as fast as possible is worth $132 billion a year. Stopping all foreign aid to Mexico is worth millions more a year. Withdrawing from NAFTA is worth hundreds of billions in jobs and investment coming back home to the United States and keeping what would otherwise move out of our country.

Trump will get the money for the wall back 1000 times over in a variety of ways that don't need any agreement from Mexico. Americans who supported Trump and who want to end illegal immigration aren't worried about who pays for it anyway. We want illegal immigration stopped, brought to an end, as fast as possible. We wish we didn't need a wall, but we do and we're going to have a big beautiful landmark border wall with beautiful landscaping whether Mexico likes it or not.