Trump says 'not enough' progress made in high-stakes U.S.-Mexico talks

[webfact]

Trump says 'not enough' progress made in high-stakes U.S.-Mexico talks

By Richard Cowan and Alexandra Alper

 

U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, in Portsmouth, Britain, June 5, 2019. Chris Jackson/Pool via Reuters

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexican and U.S. officials are set to resume talks in Washington on Thursday aimed at averting an imposition of tariffs on Mexican goods, with President Donald Trump saying "not enough" progress on ways to curb migration was made when the two sides met on Wednesday.

 

Frustrated by the lack of progress on a signature issue from his 2016 election campaign, Trump unexpectedly told Mexico last week to take a harder line on illegal immigration or face 5% tariffs on all its exports to the United States starting on Monday, rising to as much as 25% later in the year.

 

Vice President Mike Pence chaired the meeting on Wednesday afternoon with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to make the case that Mexico needed to do more to stop a surge in Central American migrants crossing the border.

 

With Trump in Europe for D-Day commemoration ceremonies until Friday, a quick resolution had never been anticipated.

 

"Immigration discussions at the White House with representatives of Mexico have ended for the day. Progress is being made, but not nearly enough!" Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday evening.

 

Pence had expected to hear "tangible measures" that the Mexican government was prepared to take "immediately," a White House official said ahead of Wednesday's meeting. White House officials were not immediately available for comment afterwards.

 

Ebrard told a news conference that Wednesday's discussions had focussed on migration rather than tariffs. The United States wanted measures that would have a short-term impact but Mexico is aiming for longer-term solutions, he said.

 

"A number of possibilities were discussed that need to be looked at in more detail to try to find some common ground" on Thursday, Ebrard said.

 

If the tariffs go ahead, the United States would be in a serious trade dispute with both China and Mexico - two of its three top trading partners. That is a situation that U.S. business groups are keen to avoid.

 

Mexico also wants to stop a trade war that analysts believe might tip its economy into a recession and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he is optimistic that an agreement will be reached.

 

But his administration is preparing for a no-deal outcome, too.

 

An official list of U.S. products that could be subject to retaliatory tariffs if the duties take effect is principally tailored towards products from agricultural and industrial states regarded as Trump's electoral base, a Mexican official said.

 

With the clock ticking towards U.S. elections in 2020, Trump is facing resistance within his own Republican Party to strike a deal and avoid the tariffs.

 

Many lawmakers are concerned about the potential impact on cross-border trade and increased costs for U.S. businesses and consumers on imported Mexican goods from cars and auto parts to beer and fruit.

 

John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters: "We have conveyed our concerns to the administration. There are a good number of Republican senators who have expressed both publicly and privately to the White House their concerns about this."

 

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNN the tariffs might not be needed because the threat alone was enough to "have the Mexicans' attention."

 

BORDER APPREHENSIONS RISE

U.S. border officers apprehended more than 132,000 people crossing from Mexico in May, the Trump administration said on Wednesday, the highest monthly total in more than a decade and reaching what officials said were "crisis" levels.

 

The conservative Trump administration wants Mexico to stop the migrant numbers rising and toughen the southern border with Guatemala - the main entry point for Central Americans into Mexico.

 

The leftist administration of Lopez Obrador is proposing redirecting U.S. security funding towards boosting economic development in poverty-stricken southern Mexico and Guatemala to attack the root causes of migration, two Mexican government sources said.

 

U.S. border authorities have said they are overwhelmed not so much by the number of migrants but by a shift in the type of person turning up at the border.

 

Increasing numbers of Central American families and unaccompanied minors seeking asylum after fleeing criminal violence in their home countries have been turning themselves in to U.S. border agents, who have long been geared up to catch mainly single, adult Mexicans trying to cross clandestinely.

 

"Our nation is experiencing an unprecedented border security and humanitarian crisis on the southwest border, both at and between our ports of entry," Randy Howe, the executive director for operations, Office of Field Operations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), told reporters on a call.

 

Howe said that on Tuesday alone, CBP apprehended more than 4,100 people and had 19,293 people in custody. "We are bursting at the seams. It is unsustainable," Howe said.

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Alexandra Alper, Roberta Rampton, Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell in Washington, Steve Holland in Ireland, Dave Graham, Noe Torres and Sharay Angulo in Mexico City, Gabriel Burin in Buenos Aires and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Writing by Alistair Bell and Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Will Dunham and Sonya Hepinstall)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-06

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[WeekendRaider]

breathtaking. 

I know why folks like FDR, one of my neighbors, my mom lives a stone's throw from his first house, had to lie, as all US presidents did and do. all over the place. but why on this?

why on this?

how can any Amerikeen of my generation at least, the Baby Boomers,  pretend to anyone else at all, even in public [except for a few short sentences spoken 'sotto voce'] that we don't know the border problem has 'Climate' written all over it.  that we need something that will work passively for instance, to stop folks when it gets much much worse.  and that would work in spades for folks suffering from electrolyte imbalances.  not just these initial flows.

why?  just on Sunday the New York Times finally ran it's first of the new fangled 'air travel humiliation' pieces, the Andy Newman one masked "Global Warming" as still uses the tried old "ice will be melting in 2100 something" narrative that we Baby Boomers apparently still love to pieces and gets fake greenies elected sometimes too.  ice melting, because it is the longest latency effect to Co2 as a GHG and is relatively innocuous but also quite titillating, such as beach property and Florida being swallowed up!!! wow!!! ..... Co2 which airplanes emit at 285 grams per passenger kilometer flown as a powerful gas so powerful we measure it in parts per million in our thin, plant maintained atmosphere....

unlike what makes folks leave their wonderful homes in South America... and soon most of Mexico as well, published precipitation projections show..... and head to the north where food is so plentiful it is exported in huge amounts.... still.... for animal feed, for instance..... even though we are a little late for some reason with planting corn.  for some reason, but when we cross the first 'threshold'... holy jeepers Batman!!!!  get that border wall done now. 

fix this migration stampede that has not even begun hardly at all yet.

Edited June 6, 2019 by WeekendRaider

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Ebrard told a news conference that Wednesday's discussions had focussed on migration rather than tariffs. The United States wanted measures that would have a short-term impact but Mexico is aiming for longer-term solutions, he said.

This should be obvious to everyone that Trump is only concerned about political optics ahead of the 2020 elections.  Having a bunch of brown people crossing the borders right now doesn't look good to his hardcore base, their number one priority being tough on immigration.  So Trump wants Mexico to do whatever it takes to limit brown people coming to the USA right now.  After the 2020 elections, he could care less. 

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, WeekendRaider said:

breathtaking. 

Yes. Your post I mean.

 

Love these stream of consciousness posts - even Kerouac used capital letters. Maybe the aluminum headgear is a bit too tight on the old noggin?

 

 

1 hour ago, WeekendRaider said:

holy jeepers Batman!!!!  get that border wall done now. 

Well Bruce Wayne, noted Gotham billionaire, could probably afford it. trump, meh, not so much.

 

 

 

[bristolboy]

4 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Love these stream of consciousness posts - even Kerouac used capital letters. Maybe the aluminum headgear is a bit too tight on the old noggin?

 

I wasn't sure whether to agree or to disagree with that remarkable post. Very frustrating.

[mtls2005]

40 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

I wasn't sure whether to agree or to disagree with that remarkable post. Very frustrating.

 

Yeah, I find it easier to comprehend trump, and that's saying something.

 

Hard to figure trump on this one, he's running on fumes but it seems like:

 

during the campaign we would build the wall and Mexico would pay for it.

 

and now it's

 

Mexico will build a wall and we will pay for it.

 

 

Ratings take a dip, flip the script, even jump the shark.

 

Maybe not chant-worthy though?

 

Who will build the wall? Mexico.

 

Who will pay for it? We will.

 

OK, maybe simple enough for the MAGA crowd?

 

 

 

 

[bristolboy]

I have to confess that I was dubious about having troops stationed at the border. But thanks to this bit of news below, I defy anyone to say it isn't absolutely necessary.

US troops stationed at the Mexico border will spend 30 days painting Trump's steel barrier

• United States troops stationed at a city near the US-Mexico border will be painting the border barriers to improve its "aesthetic appearance," according to a Homeland Security email described by a congressional aide to INSIDER.
• The Department of Homeland Security emailed lawmakers on Wednesday saying troops stationed in Calexico, a US city near the border, will spend 30 days painting one-mile of border bollards, according to the email.
• Homeland Security officials stated that painting the barrier could improve its efficacy.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wall-paint-too-hot-to-climb-us-troops-2019-6

[spidermike007]

The trick to get to getting this rather insane idea of linking tariffs with immigration accomplished would be twofold.

 

First you put some talent in the room. Pompeo and Pence? Really? Neither of them could negotiate a truce between bickering boy scout troops. 

 

Second, you reform legal immigration. The immigration system in the US is completely broken. Nobody talks about it. We can no longer attract the best and the brightest from around the world. They are turned away, due to the tiny quotas for H1 visas. Reform immigration before you even begin the discussion about illegal immigration. 

 

Lastly, this has little to do with the issue of immigration. It has alot more to do with a romantic and rather racist notion of a white America. 

 

Forget about that. The US is getting browner by the day, and that is a good thing! Immigrants work harder than most Americans. And most Americans do not want the jobs they are willing to perform at low wages. 

 

A reality based conversation about this issue is needed. 

[Ozman52]

The threat seems to have got the Mexicans attention, and they are now taking steps to reduce the flow of migrants. Possible Trump will allow the first 5% to take effect to drive the point home - if you don't help us with our problem caused largely by your lack of border security, we can create problems for you.

Latest news, large numbers of Africans showing up at Mexican border, set to exploit the US's limp policies.

[mtls2005]

54 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

and they are now taking steps to reduce the flow of migrants

Pray tell what steps are they taking?

 

54 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

Possible Trump will allow the first 5% to take effect to drive the point home

Meh.

 

Trump considering delaying Mexico tariffs ahead of Monday deadline: report

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-considering-delaying-mexico-tariffs-ahead-of-monday-deadline-report-2019-06-06

 

56 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

we can create problems for you.

Weird view, do you often advocate shooting one's self in the foot? Tariffs harm Americans. Not sure why trumpers are so illiterate on this basic economic concept?

 

57 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

Latest news, large numbers of Africans showing up at Mexican border, set to exploit the US's limp policies.

Someone's been listening to too much Rush?

 

 

~ 70% of the overstays arrive on airplanes. "Build the Dome"?

 

 

[JimmyTheMook]

The only recent US Prez who has any ballz:

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7114457/Migrants-detained-Mexico-sent-Guatemala-officials-fight-block-Trump-tariffs.html

[Ozman52]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

Pray tell what steps are they taking?

 

Meh.

 

Trump considering delaying Mexico tariffs ahead of Monday deadline: report

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-considering-delaying-mexico-tariffs-ahead-of-monday-deadline-report-2019-06-06

 

Weird view, do you often advocate shooting one's self in the foot? Tariffs harm Americans. Not sure why trumpers are so illiterate on this basic economic concept?

 

Someone's been listening to too much Rush?

 

 

~ 70% of the overstays arrive on airplanes. "Build the Dome"?

 

 

Do you own bloody research. Start with the AFP article in the BP 5:45 this morning, or BBC "Mexico to deploy forces on Guatamala border.

How does "Trump considering" invalidate "possible"?

I AM NOT a Trump supporter, and I understand how tariffs work. I can also read that 1 in 5 Mexican businesses would be affected (today, but I can't find it again). Mexico realises this would cost them, and they are reacting. Face it, even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut, he might have hit a good note for a change.

Why should I care about your irrelevant off-topic question.