Not everyone wants the wall and no one wants to pay for it
Update
4:37 PM EST: Following the president’s remarks at the GOP retreat in Philadelphia, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that the president would look to impose a 20% tax on all imports from Mexico in order to pay for the wall. Such a tax would require approval from Congress.
There is some consideration, however, as to whether such a tax would be effective in achieving its goal. Mexico’s primary export is manufactured products, which seems like a rather large category. However, a significant portion of those products are pieces used in the assembly of larger products, such as car parts and cell phone pieces. Direct imports to the US would result in higher prices to consumers and, most importantly, American businesses reliant on those parts. The increased cost would result in lower profits, inhibiting growth of American manufacturing.
The second largest export from Mexico is oil and oil products. Any tax here would require a separate act of Congress from the one taxing manufactured products. This would not only result in higher prices at gas pumps, but would significantly impact the profitability of American companies.
Finally, agricultural exports from Mexico are a critical area for US grocers as the demand for fresh fruit and vegetables year-round has become a dominant part of their business. Additional taxes on agricultural imports would significantly raise food prices and make some foods that are grown almost exclusively in Mexico unavailable to large parts of the US market.
There is almost no way to impose a tax on Mexican goods imported into the United States that doesn’t have the US taxpayer ultimately paying for that tax. The fact that the money might pass through the hands of the Mexican government somewhere along the way is irrelevant. We still end up paying for the wall out of our pocket.
12:00 PM EST: Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto has said he will not attend the working meeting scheduled for Washington next Tuesday. This seems to have come in response to a tweet from the US president that said, “If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”
Response across Mexico has been strong. “I think that, in general, diplomacy is not conducted via Twitter,” Finance Secretary Jose Antonio Meade told Radio Formula. Mexico’s best-known opposition politician, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tweeted: “in the face of Trump’s latest outburst, don’t go to the meeting, and submit an urgent complaint to the U.N. for human rights violations.”
Both sides say that communication lines between the two countries are still open, but pressure is increasing on president Pena Nieto within Mexico to refuse any talks with the US until the wall is removed from the agenda.
The Short Version
Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto, said yesterday that Mexico will not pay for any form of a barrier along the US/Mexico border. This comes just hours after the US president signed orders to begin construction planning on the wall. Immigration and refugee activists have long decried the very idea of a wall and funding for the wall still faces strong opposition in the US Congress.
Mexico Says No
Not everyone wants the wall and no one wants to pay for it
Update
4:37 PM EST: Following the president’s remarks at the GOP retreat in Philadelphia, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that the president would look to impose a 20% tax on all imports from Mexico in order to pay for the wall. Such a tax would require approval from Congress.
There is some consideration, however, as to whether such a tax would be effective in achieving its goal. Mexico’s primary export is manufactured products, which seems like a rather large category. However, a significant portion of those products are pieces used in the assembly of larger products, such as car parts and cell phone pieces. Direct imports to the US would result in higher prices to consumers and, most importantly, American businesses reliant on those parts. The increased cost would result in lower profits, inhibiting growth of American manufacturing.
The second largest export from Mexico is oil and oil products. Any tax here would require a separate act of Congress from the one taxing manufactured products. This would not only result in higher prices at gas pumps, but would significantly impact the profitability of American companies.
Finally, agricultural exports from Mexico are a critical area for US grocers as the demand for fresh fruit and vegetables year-round has become a dominant part of their business. Additional taxes on agricultural imports would significantly raise food prices and make some foods that are grown almost exclusively in Mexico unavailable to large parts of the US market.
There is almost no way to impose a tax on Mexican goods imported into the United States that doesn’t have the US taxpayer ultimately paying for that tax. The fact that the money might pass through the hands of the Mexican government somewhere along the way is irrelevant. We still end up paying for the wall out of our pocket.
12:00 PM EST: Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto has said he will not attend the working meeting scheduled for Washington next Tuesday. This seems to have come in response to a tweet from the US president that said, “If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”
Response across Mexico has been strong. “I think that, in general, diplomacy is not conducted via Twitter,” Finance Secretary Jose Antonio Meade told Radio Formula. Mexico’s best-known opposition politician, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tweeted: “in the face of Trump’s latest outburst, don’t go to the meeting, and submit an urgent complaint to the U.N. for human rights violations.”
Both sides say that communication lines between the two countries are still open, but pressure is increasing on president Pena Nieto within Mexico to refuse any talks with the US until the wall is removed from the agenda.
The Short Version
Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto, said yesterday that Mexico will not pay for any form of a barrier along the US/Mexico border. This comes just hours after the US president signed orders to begin construction planning on the wall. Immigration and refugee activists have long decried the very idea of a wall and funding for the wall still faces strong opposition in the US Congress.
(more…)
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