President Donald Trump remains fond of using Twitter to conduct foreign policy. This Wednesday, he took to the platform to hurl threats at Mexico, asserting that unless something major changes in the southern U.S. border immigration surge, tariffs on all imports from the country will be implemented in the coming days as previously asserted. It remains unclear what exactly that “something major” really is, as Trump just keeps pointing angrily at the situation and implying that southern U.S. border crossings should hit zero before he’s happy, entailing the complete shutdown of the asylum system.
He railed:
‘Progress is being made, but not nearly enough! Border arrests for May are at 133,000 because of Mexico & the Democrats in Congress refusing to budge on immigration reform. Talks with Mexico will resume tomorrow with the understanding that, if no agreement is reached, Tariffs at the 5% level will begin on Monday, with monthly increases as per schedule. The higher the Tariffs go, the higher the number of companies that will move back to the USA!’
It’s not that simple. Besides Trump just pulling the accusation out of thin air that undocumented border crossings are all Mexico and the Democrats’ fault, Trump continues touting the supposed economic benefits to Americans of the punitive tariffs he’s been swinging left and right, but these taxes are paid by the Americans trying to carry out the imports that he’s targeting.
In the Mexico case, Senate Republicans have been railing against the tariff plans because of this exact implication, despite the president and his team’s incessant refusal to acknowledge that Americans are paying the taxes. They’ve said that a definite option is unveiling a Congressional resolution to overturn a national emergency declaration Trump might use to impose the tariffs, and some key figures have said the Republican-majority Senate could muster a veto-proof, two-thirds majority to back that.
Trump, meanwhile, said at a press conference during his trip to the United Kingdom this week that it would be “foolish” for Republicans to try and block his tariffs.
Experts have revealed that when examining the situation, it becomes clear that even the 5 percent tariff that’s the first step in Trump’s gradually increasing scheme to pressure Mexico to “do something” about undocumented immigration and asylum seekers would spark a $17.33 billion tax increase. This money would come from Americans’ pockets and equate to the largest tax increase in some 30 years.
Trump doesn’t seem to care, more concerned with whether his global counterparts are passing his personal bar of competency and respect for his agenda or whatever.
Check out Twitter’s response below..
Featured Image via screenshot
