Trump threatens the Mexican government with tariffs if it does not stop migrants

New York and Washington. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump threatened Claudia Sheinbaum‘s government with trade tariffs if it does not take measures to stop the migratory flow to the United States, and accused that “Mexico has invaded us” and that the neighboring country is taking advantage of the United States.

In a speech at a campaign event on the eve of Election Day in Raleigh, North Carolina, Trump, after praising his relationship with former Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lòpez Obrador, commented that “one of my first calls I will make will be to Mexico: ‘you stop allowing people to enter through our border,’” he declared, to shouts and applause of approval.

He added that “we are being invaded by Mexico. But now we have a new president of Mexico. I have not met her, and I will inform her on day one or even sooner. [de mi presidencia]that if they do not stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs that enter to our country, I will immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on everything they send to the United States of America.” And if that doesn’t work, he warned, he will increasingly raise the tariff to 100 percent, and he predicts that in response Mexico will deploy soldiers to its southern border with Guatemala and Belize to stop the migrants.

“We are going to seal that border so quickly” with that measure, he promised, after reiterating that the world sends its criminals, its crazy people and “terrorists” to the United States through that border, falsely repeating that his Democratic opponents have a policy of “ open borders.”

“You are the first to whom I have said this,” he said to shouts of approval of his new political proposal. With this, he continues with what has been one of his constant themes since he first launched his candidacy in 2015, the threat from Mexico and immigrants.

He pointed out that Mexico is now the United States’ first trading partner, and “they are making a fortune” with that, and accused that “they have taken control of our country in a certain way… and they are scamming us everywhere, it is ridiculous.”

He again claimed – as he has repeatedly in his campaign – that during his presidency “we forced Mexico to pay for the soldiers” they sent to their side of the border to achieve what he insisted was the largest reduction in the migratory flow ever. view. “They didn’t want to do it, I told them they had to do it while we built the wall, and they paid so much for it… they didn’t want to do it, in fact they laughed, and I told them, this is what I’m going to do, I’m going to impose a 100 percent tariff.” cent on cars and everything that comes to the United States. Do you know what they answered? Sir, it would be an honor for you to have our soldiers free of charge. They asked how many do I need and I told them, what is required. And they were great, they made a great contribution to our security.”

Trump has recalled at various stages of his campaign that, according to him, he forced President López Obrador to send 28,000 Mexican troops to seal the border with the United States after he threatened him with tariffs.

“I had a great relationship with the president [anterior] from Mexico, but he retired,” he added. “He was a good man, he was a socialist but you can’t have it all. “They paid a fortune for those soldiers on the border,” he insisted, after detailing that he built 571 miles of border wall. He said that the funds for the construction of that wall came from the military budget, since it was to defend the country from “an invasion by Mexico.”