U.S. Announces 5% Tariff on Imported Goods from Mexico

On May 30, 2019, the White House released a statement announcing the imposition of a 5 percent tariff on all goods imported from Mexico starting on June 10, 2019 in response to migrant flows across the U.S.-Mexico border.

In addition, the White House announced that these tariffs will be raised to 10 percent on July 1, 2019, 15 percent on August 1, 2019, 20 percent on September 1, 2019 and to 25 percent on October 1, 2019 if steps to reduce border crossing are not taken.

The Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, released a letter the following day, on May 31, 2019, responding to President Trump’s declaration by denouncing the use of tariffs as an effective way to solve the migrant problem. President López Obrador proposed that both countries opt “for development cooperation to help Central American countries to attract productive investments that create jobs to resolve this grave issue at its core”.

The White House declared that tariffs will remain in place until Mexico acts to substantially stop the illegal migration to the US.

The full statement from the White House can be seen here.

The full letter by the Mexican President can be seen here.