Mr. López Obrador said that his foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, would present data to American officials showing their efforts to control migration into and through Mexico. Mexican officials will also emphasize that a problem like migration needs to be addressed at its roots — by strengthening the governments, economies and societies of the Central American countries from which the majority of northbound migrants are fleeing.
To that end, Mr. López Obrador and his envoys have for months been pressing an ambitious development plan for Central America and have sought the American government’s collaboration.
“People don’t leave their villages for pleasure,” Mr. López Obrador said on Friday. “They leave because of necessity, or because there aren’t job opportunities or because of violence.”
But Mr. López Obrador has not found a terribly receptive audience for his regional development plan in the White House.
Indeed, Mr. Trump, in another effort to punish the governments of Latin America for what he says has been an inadequate effort to curb migration to the United States, has moved to cut aid to the Northern Triangle countries of Central America — assistance that is designed to address the very factors that drive migration.
While Mexican officials say they want to avoid a trade war, analysts say reciprocal tariffs against American goods imported to Mexico are likely should Mr. Trump follow through on his threat of tariffs.
“Of course, it will result in retaliatory measures by the Mexicans and it will be a race to the bottom that will hurt businesses and consumers on both sides of the border,” said Michael C. Camuñez, president and chief executive of Monarch Global Strategies, a binational consulting firm based in the United States and Mexico that focuses on trade and investment in Latin America.
The López Obrador administration has been a collaborative and willing partner with the United States in a range of areas, including trade and migration, Mr. Camuñez continued.
“I really don’t know what more we could reasonably expect from the Mexicans,” he said. “I think they’ve been constructive partners and they keep taking it in the face by a president who seems to be increasingly unhinged.”
Comments:
BruceNew MexicoMexico, Central America, and the Andean countries should impose a 25% tariff on U.S. products until USA reduces its narcotics imports by 25%. America’s insatiable drug appetite is directly responsible for destabilizing those countries.