An emboldened Mexico hardened its opposition to US President Donald Trump on Friday by saying it would retaliate if the US imposed a border tax and that it can afford to lose financial aid that might be pulled to pay for a border wall.
Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray said Mexico could respond to any tax the US were to unilaterally impose on imports from its southern neighbor to finance the wall with levies on select goods, aimed at US regions most dependent on exports south of the border.
“Without a doubt, we have that possibility, and what we cannot do is remain with our arms crossed,” Videgaray said in a radio interview. “The Mexican government would have to respond.”
The statements by Videgaray and Mexican Minister of the Interior Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who minimized the potential impact of the rumored loss of US security aid, toughened the defiant tone from Mexico since Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto last month canceled a trip to meet Trump over the wall dispute.
Mexicans are angry at Trump’s calls for US firms not to invest south of the border, insults to immigrants and threats to make Mexico finance the border wall.
Pena Nieto had faced criticism that he was too accommodating with Trump, but got a much needed ratings boost after canceling the summit. A plan to deport third-country nationals to Mexico fueled outrage this week.
Osorio Chong told local radio that Mexican officials’ rejection of Trump’s bid to send non-Mexican illegal migrants from the US to Mexico was “very clear.”
“They asked us if [non-Mexican illegal immigrants] could be here while they are going through the legal process there. We said that there was ... absolutely no way.”
Videgaray said the trade strategy would replicate a 2009 campaign of retaliatory tariffs that helped Mexico win a dispute with the US. On Wednesday, the minister mentioned Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin as states that could be targeted in a conversation with lawmakers leaked to two newspapers.
“This is not our preference,” he said. “Mexico believes in free trade.”
A US executive order on Jan. 25 that mandated the construction of a border wall also required government agencies to report the financial assistance they gave Mexico in the past five years, leading to speculation Trump wants to redirect the aid to pay for its construction.
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