MONTERREY, Mexico – This country is breathing a collective sigh of relief following President Trump’s decision to temporarily suspend his threat to impose draconian tariffs on Mexican goods. But don’t kid yourself, the truce is not likely to last long.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s self-imposed international isolation has left this country in a weak diplomatic position to defend itself from Trump’s tantrums. That is likely to embolden the U.S. president to further step up his attacks on Mexico as he begins his 2020 re-election campaign.
Granted, Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent of Mexican goods is one of the dumbest and most counter-productive U.S. ideas ever to fight illegal migration.
It would kill hundreds of thousands of jobs on both sides of the border, raise the price of cars and electronic goods for U.S. consumers, drive up unemployment in Mexico, and increase illegal migration to the United States.
