Former President Trump on Monday threatened to impose a tariff of 25 percent on all imports from Mexico, which is the top trade partner with the U.S., unless the Mexican government curbs what he called an “onslaught” of immigrants coming across the border.
“We’re being invaded by Mexico. But now we have a new president of Mexico. Supposed to — a very nice woman, they say. I haven’t met her. And I’m going to inform her on day one or sooner that if they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I’m going to immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on everything they send into the United States of America,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina.
Trump claimed the plan had a “100 percent chance of working,” telling the crowd he would escalate the tariff by 25 percent periodically if it did not get the desired response.
The former president went on a lengthy tangent about construction of the border wall during his first term in office, including how he did not like the aesthetics of certain features.
The former president has for months pledged to impose blanket tariffs on all imports, a plan economists have warned could spike the cost of goods in the United States and increase costs for families. But Trump has shrugged off those concerns, claiming the tariffs will cause more companies to do business inside the U.S.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative reported that trade between the U.S. and Mexico totaled an estimated $855 billion in 2022, nearly $500 billion of which is goods imported from Mexico.
Trump during his first term made repeated threats against Mexico in an effort to crack down on the flow of migrants at the southern border, including sending troops to the border and threatening to close it entirely.
Trump began his final day of campaigning with a stop in North Carolina, arriving on stage nearly an hour behind schedule. It marked the third consecutive day he has campaigned in the Tar Heel State, which he won in 2016 and 2020.
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