Trump threatens tariffs on Mexico over immigration

By Meg Wagner and Brian Ries, CNN

Updated 6:25 p.m. ET, May 31, 2019
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10:13 a.m. ET, May 31, 2019

Mexican president: "I believe President Trump will understand that this is not the way to resolve things"

From CNN's Claudia Dominguez

 Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images
 Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is calling for prudence and dialogue in response to Trump’s threats to slap Mexico with tariffs in the upcoming months.

“I believe President Trump will understand that this is not the way to resolve things," he said during a press conference Friday morning in Mexico City.

He said that the situation should be rectified because the measures “would not benefit Mexicans, but it would not benefit Americans either.”

9:52 a.m. ET, May 31, 2019

Some in the White House fear tariffs would sabotage a new trade deal: "Shooting ourselves in the foot"

From CNN's Jeremy Diamond, Kevin Liptak and Betsy Klein 

President Trump's threat to impose new tariffs on Mexican goods complicates his proposed United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (or USMCA), which would be a replacement to NATFA.

Some inside the administration are privately concerned the President could be sabotaging what to many officials appeared the most likely legislative win before next year's election: Passage of the USMCA.

Behind the scenes: While there is relatively broad support in the West Wing for Trump's decision to impose tariffs on Mexico, there is also recognition the move will hamper efforts to ratify the NAFTA replacement deal. For that reason, some aides tried to convince Trump on Thursday to hold off, arguing USMCA would be put in jeopardy, according to a White House official.

To some officials, the timing could not be worse. Even as recently as Thursday morning, many White House officials were expressing optimism that Democrats were coming to the table to negotiate USMCA, and believed the plan could see passage by the end of the summer — a belief that prompted the decision to start the clock on the approval process.

But Trump's decision on tariffs left those plans in question, and now many officials are quietly pessimistic about the deal's near-term chances. That's a disappointment for many, since even Trump has viewed passage of the plan as a signature achievement of his first term. Blowing up those chances has left many aides perplexed.

 "It's shooting ourselves in the foot," the White House official said.
10:09 a.m. ET, May 31, 2019

The Dow dropped 300 points after Trump tariff threats

From CNN Business' Matt Egan

The Dow declined 300 points, or 1.2%, on Friday morning after President Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on Mexico. The S&P 500 fell 1.2% and the Nasdaq lost 1.3%

Trump’s tariff threat against one of America’s largest trading partners amplified investor worries about how trade tensions will disrupt business and slow global economic growth.

Auto makers, which rely on Mexico as a vital part of their supply chain, retreated. Fiat Chrysler lost 5%, while General Motors and Ford lost 3% apiece.

The news also rocked the Mexican peso, which tumbled 3.4% against the US dollar.

The rising trade tensions spilled over into the energy market, driving US oil prices 2.8% lower to $54.93 a barrel.

9:51 a.m. ET, May 31, 2019

Mexico's foreign minister is going to DC today

From CNN's Natalie Gallón

PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP/Getty Images
PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP/Getty Images

Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard will be traveling to Washington to meet with US officials today, according to a post on his official Twitter account.

The move came hours after Trump threatened to raise tariffs on all goods by 5% starting June 10, if Mexico did not curb the immigration problem plaguing both nations.

 Ebrard praised Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s response to Trump in a letter Thursday night, adding that he would be traveling to the US to “find a meeting point,” his post said.

 “Dignity and steadfastness in this difficult hour,” Ebrard concluded.

9:48 a.m. ET, May 31, 2019

Trump's sincere about his tariff threat — but there's a path to putting them off, official says

From CNN's Jeremy Diamond, Kevin Liptak, and Betsy Klein 

There is significant uncertainty in the West Wing surrounding the President's threatened tariffs on Mexico and fear among some officials that passage of a North American trade deal — possibly a signature achievement of Trump's first term — could now be scuttled.

How serious is Trump? A senior administration official said that while Trump is "very sincere" about his threat to impose tariffs on Mexico, there is still a "path" to Trump holding off on imposing them.

"The path to not putting them on is if Mexico puts in effort to reduce illegal immigration at the border," the official said, noting that what that path entails was "intentionally" left ambiguous, giving the President a "wide berth" of actions from Mexico he could consider satisfactory.

Sow what's going to happen? Ultimately, the official said: "I don't think we know" whether Trump will impose the tariffs.

The official conceded that Trump's tariff threat complicates the administration's already fraught efforts to get the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (or USMCA) ratified. Trump's tariff threat came the same day the Mexican President AMLO submitted the USMCA for ratification in the Mexican Senate.