U.S. Gas May Be One Trade That Survives Trump’s Mexico Showdown

Then there’s this: If Trump acted in some way to hurt the Mexican economy, it would hurt, well, the American economy. “We don’t want to lose that critical partner in the war on drugs, and in the war on terror”.

Earlier Thursday, Trump had tweeted that “If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting” in Washington D.C. As Laura Carlsen, who works with the Mexico City-based Americas Program of the Center for International Policy and is among the most astute observers of USA trade policy in Mexico, told me, NAFTA had the effect not of overcoming structural dependencies but locking them in.

With both Mexico and the United States refusing to foot the bill, questions have arisen over how the wall will be paid for – so, on Friday (AEDT) the White House suggested Mr Trump could impose a 20 per cent tax on Mexican imports. Spicer walked backed the suggestion hours later, claiming the tax was simply a policy “option”.

But facing some pressure at home and clearly disliking the orders from Trump, Nieto said in Spanish in a video posted on social media that Trump’s wall was dividing the two nations.

“Trump has brought back a very strong Mexican spirt”, he said.

Whether a different country chooses to help is definitely not, which is why the second part of Trump’s campaign line – that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall – was the more unsafe part of that promise.

But experts caution that even if Trump halts or taxes remittances, Mexicans will still find ways to get cash over the border without paying a tax.

“I’m not going to pay for that f***ing wall”, Fox told Fusion in February. “He should pay for it”. He has taken to Twitter, Trump’s favorite vehicle to publicly express his thoughts, to criticize the American president and often has posted expletive-laden criticism of Trump’s actions.

“Trump is taking a wrecking ball to our immigration system”, said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

In addition, Trump plans to target the several hundred US cities that by law or their political decisions have declared themselves “sanctuary cities”, with their law enforcement agencies refusing to help federal agents identify undocumented immigrants so they could be detained and eventually deported.

Building a barrier along the 2,000 mile (3,200km) Mexican border was one of Mr Trump’s key pledges in the election campaign.

Twenty-five percent of the parts of a Chevrolet Malibu, for example, assembled in the United States came from outside the U.S. and Canada, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in 2013. “We have to stop people from just pouring into our country”.

The collaborative spirit of Thursday’s meeting was in sharp contrast to the growing diplomatic dispute between Mexico and the United States.

Fox said he doesn’t see a diplomatic solution as a possibility and warned that relations with his country have fallen steeply over the issue. “Be ― or try to be ― a real president”.