White House press secretary says border wall will be funded by 20 percent import tax on Mexican good

[Rolfe]

White House press secretary says border wall will be funded by 20 percent import tax on Mexican goods

MEXICO CITY — President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday called off a trip to Washington, after President Trump launched his plan to construct a border wall and insisted he would stick Mexico with the bill. The incident opened one of the most serious rifts in memory between the United States and its southern neighbor.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer added a stunning new detail about the proposed wall project later Thursday, saying that Trump intended to pay for it by imposing a 20 percent tax on all imports from Mexico.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexican-president-cancels-visit-to-washington-as-tensions-with-trump-administration-intensify/2017/01/26/ececc3da-e3d9-11e6-a419-eefe8eff0835_story.html?utm_term=.afd1f5fb8d02&wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%2Bnation

This is how trade wars start.

 

[Crabtownboy]

White House press secretary says border wall will be funded by 20 percent import tax on Mexican goods

MEXICO CITY — President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday called off a trip to Washington, after President Trump launched his plan to construct a border wall and insisted he would stick Mexico with the bill. The incident opened one of the most serious rifts in memory between the United States and its southern neighbor.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer added a stunning new detail about the proposed wall project later Thursday, saying that Trump intended to pay for it by imposing a 20 percent tax on all imports from Mexico.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexican-president-cancels-visit-to-washington-as-tensions-with-trump-administration-intensify/2017/01/26/ececc3da-e3d9-11e6-a419-eefe8eff0835_story.html?utm_term=.afd1f5fb8d02&wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%2Bnation

This is how trade wars start.

Is Trump and his team stupid or do they believe the American people are stupid. An import tax is not paid by Mexido, it is paid by the American company that imports the product. Of course they pass the price increase on to the American comsumer. So, in reality it is a tax on the people of America.

 

[StefanM]

do they believe the American people are stupid.

Yes.

 

[InTheLight]

Our third largest trading partner. Under this proposal, it will now cost at least 20% more to get products from them.

Trump will now pick winners and losers in this trade war. We get inflation. Yep, MAGA!

Sent from my Moto Droid Turbo.

 

[MennoSota]

Tariff wars...I wonder how that turned out for Thomas Jefferson...

 

[777]

Why is everyone so shocked about this? Trump had that idea on his website for over a year.

You'd have to bail out of NAFTA first, the peso is already reeling from this news because this tariff could be slapped on by this summer. Could be just the opening salvo in some kind of negotiation game but this would not be a traditional trade war if it ever happens - the costs of goods would go up but Mexico would not be paying most of the tariff, American companies that have gone down there to avoid unions and environmental regulations would end up paying the costs and they would probably "come home", But Mexico itself would be better off out of NAFTA, it had choked their economy to where they're regionally sub-par.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Why is everyone so shocked about this? Trump had that idea on his website for over a year.

You'd have to bail out of NAFTA first, the peso is already reeling from this news because this tariff could be slapped on by this summer. Could be just the opening salvo in some kind of negotiation game but this would not be a traditional trade war if it ever happens - the costs of goods would go up but Mexico would not be paying most of the tariff, American companies that have gone down there to avoid unions and environmental regulations would end up paying the costs and they would probably "come home", But Mexico itself would be better off out of NAFTA, it had choked their economy to where they're regionally sub-par.

I believe it far more likely that this little episode simply shows that Trump has no idea of how he will "make Mexico pay".

 

[Use of Time]

Who's paying for the wall?

Mexico
Mexic
Mexi
Mex
Me........

 

[carpro]

Opening gambit. We'll have to wait and see what comes next.

 

[rsr]

This is the brave new world we're in. A 20 percent tariff would, of course, wreck the Mexican economy, sending more Mexicans across the border, which will require more and more walls. If this comes to pass the only thing Americans will import from Mexico will be illegal drugs (which will find a way here even if you have a 100-foot wall, given the insatiable demand) and we will have created a true narco state on the southern border. Yay us.

 

[InTheLight]

Opening gambit. We'll have to wait and see what comes next.

Actually, the opening gambit was, "If you're not going to pay for the wall, don't even bother to come to the White House for our scheduled meeting."

 

[carpro]

Actually, the opening gambit was, "If you're not going to pay for the wall, don't even bother to come to the White House for our scheduled meeting."

OK So what?

All part of the plan or step #2. Does it really matter. What's next?

So far , according to the sages here, it's going to hurt the U.S the most and others say it'll be a disaster for Mexico. Who's right?

More importantly, will it ever come about at all?

 

[InTheLight]

OK So what?

All part of the plan or step #2. Does it really matter. What's next?

So far , according to the sages here, it's going to hurt the U.S the most and others say it'll be a disaster for Mexico. Who's right?

More importantly, will it ever come about at all?

Probably will not come about at all. But if it does, Trump will pick from a list of products and selectively apply a tariff, probably less than 20% to symbolically punish Mexico, while not raising anywhere near one-one thousandth enough money to build the wall. Mexico will probably retaliate and put tariffs on some specific things they import to the U.S.

Meanwhile, the GOP will advance legislation to fund building the wall using general tax revenues. Once that gets passed, the tariffs will be lifted, Trump will invite Nieto to the White House and there will be much backslapping, handshakes, and photos taken. We will end up paying for the wall, Trump will claim he's cutting spending somewhere else to pay for it, and no one will object.

 

[carpro]

Probably will not come about at all. But if it does, Trump will pick from a list of products and selectively apply a tariff, probably less than 20% to symbolically punish Mexico, while not raising anywhere near one-one thousandth enough money to build the wall. Mexico will probably retaliate and put tariffs on some specific things they import to the U.S.

Meanwhile, the GOP will advance legislation to fund building the wall using general tax revenues. Once that gets passed, the tariffs will be lifted, Trump will invite Nieto to the White House and there will be much backslapping, handshakes, and photos taken. We will end up paying for the wall, Trump will claim he's cutting spending somewhere else to pay for it, and no one will object.

You're all over the map. Just trying to cover all the bases, I guess.