US elections 2024: Trump threatens 100% tariffs on Mexico if it doesn’t stop ‘migrant invasion’

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump Monday (Nov 4) dropped a bombshell on Mexico, announcing he would “immediately” impose tariffs on the fellow North American nation if it fails to stop migrants from crossing the shared border.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina just hours ahead of the Nov 5 D-Day, Trump said something that the government in Mexico City won’t find pleasing.

Referring to Mexico’s newly inaugurated President Claudia Sheinbaum, the former president said, “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% tariff on everything they send in to the United States of America.”

Trump didn’t stop there, adding he would keep on piling tariffs, even up to 100 per cent, if Mexico fails to honour his expectations.

“It’s only got a 100% chance of working, because if that doesn’t work, I’ll make it 50, and [if] that doesn’t work, I’ll make it 75. For the tough guys, and I’ll make it 100,” Trump threatened.

Trump also made a bold prediction, saying Mexico may choose to deploy soldiers on its southern borders to prevent migrants from entering the nation.

Although Trump has vowed to use tariffs as a foreign policy tool vis-à-vis trade and border security, economists warn it could further exacerbate the cost of living crisis in the country. According to data from the US Trade Representative, US-Mexico annual trade stood at $855.1 billion in 2022. Nearly $500 billion of this is goods are imported from Mexico, meaning increased tariffs would only make goods costlier for Americans.

In his first term, Trump imposed tariffs primarily on more than $300 billion in goods from China. Trump’s fondness for tariffs is hardly a secret, as he himself has described them as “the greatest thing (he) ever invented” and “the most beautiful word in the dictionary”.

On the last day of election campaigning, Trump is visiting key swing states, including North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

(With inputs from agencies)