The Washington Post has written up a piece that reports Mexico aiming to avoid tariffs with a potential deal, thus limiting migrants going north and allowing U.S. to deport Central American asylum seekers.
U.S. and Mexican officials are discussing the outlines of a deal that would dramatically increase Mexico’s immigration enforcement efforts and give the United States far more latitude to deport Central Americans seeking asylum, according to a U.S. official and a Mexican official who cautioned that the accord is not finalized and that President Trump might not accept it.
Faced with Trump’s threat to impose escalating tariffs on Mexican goods beginning Monday, Mexican officials have pledged to deploy up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the country’s border region with Guatemala, a show of force they say will make immediate reductions in the number of Central Americans heading north toward the U.S. border.
The Mexican official and the U.S. official said the countries are negotiating a sweeping plan to overhaul asylum rules across the region, a move that would require Central Americans to seek refuge in the first foreign country they set foot upon after fleeing their homeland.
“We are committed to enhancing the U.S.-Mexico economic relationship and favor more trade, not tariffs. Imposing tariffs on Mexico does not address the root causes of migration and jeopardizes our shared economic interests,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its Mexican counterpart, the Business Coordinating Council, said in a joint statement.
With little more than 96 hours remaining before the tariffs are scheduled to take effect, businesses across the United States are scrambling to draw up contingency plans.
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