Economic war between Mexico and the US? I won’t need a lot of popcorn for this one.
LOL! Good one.
Ever heard of a gas war. Back when gas was flexible in price and the owners of the stations were trying to make a buck, they would occasionally lower prices to attract new customers. Well, this is reverse action. But it always was a wash when the company owned station could outduel the independent.
They can raise the tariffs if they want. Gas is a commodity. And if the congress and Trump decide to increase oil production in ANWAR, which they should have done by now anyway, we take away the major trade item we do with Mexico. We import a lot of things from them. But Mexico wasn’t first in the idea of tariffs.
US-Mexico trade is on the verge of a renovation. President Trump says he wants accelerate talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, (NAFTA), a deal he says has been a ‘catastrophe’ for America workers. Trump has floated a 20% import tax on all Mexican products to finance his border wall. If I remember right, Mexico not only refuzed to assist in the border wall construction, but has openly assisted illegals, to include drug cartel work, to get across the border.
Because most of the $304.6 billion in goods that cross the US’s southern border are untaxed under NAFTA, Trump has lots of room to run. A blanket tax may be the best approach. Tariffs are typically applied in a much more nuanced way but if Mexico, which has not been a productive partner on the control of illegal immigration and has ignored our laws, then they can pay the price.
Here is a list of our current largest exports to Mexico which constitutes, if this was in our entirety, a $51 billion trade deficit thanks to previous deals:
Following are the most important exports from the US to Mexico.
Machinery $42 Billion
Electrical Machinery $41 Billion
Vehicles & Vehicle Parts $21 Billion
Mineral Fuels $20 Billion (Gasoline, natural gas)
Medical Instruments $12 Billion
Plastics $16 Billion
Textiles 4.13 Billion
Agricultural Products $18 Billion (Corn, soybeans, dairy products, pork, beef, apples, malt, margarine)
Services $31.1 Billion (travel, transport, intellectual property)
Weapons 19.8 Million
Chemical Products $13.4 Billion
If NAFTA was modified, like Trump wants to do, it will put pressure on Mexico to be a little more agreeable with being a partner rather than a competitor. ‘Bout time. And the listed items above are very important to the Mexican people as you can see by their content. I think it’s called biting the hand that feeds you. Bad idea if we let them get away with it.
rwood
Mexico seems to have forgotten who is the Host and who is a Parasite.
We can get along just fine if Mexico fell into the sea. Mexico cannot exist without a host to feed off of.