Trump has a weird new cunning plan.
President Trump is moving to impose escalating tariffs on Mexican imports to force that government to take a harder line to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States.
So, using tariffs to make the Mexican government keep its people prisoner as opposed to using tariffs in a trade dispute. Isn’t that kind of…nuts? Apart from the whole tariffs a really bad idea thing, I mean? Aren’t they supposed to be about trade and nothing else?
Trump has said he is imposing the tax to punish Mexico for not doing enough to stop illegal immigration. Tens of thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Guatemala and Honduras and usually traveling with smugglers, journey through Mexico each month. U.S. officials say Mexico is not doing enough to secure its southern border with Guatemala or to crack down on the private bus companies that ferry migrants through the country, usually accompanied by their smugglers.
But tariffs aren’t supposed to be a way to punish countries for just any old damn thing, are they? Did I skip school the day they taught that?
The White House has yet to explain exactly how driving up the cost of Mexican goods could stem the flow of migration. Many experts say they believe the tariffs could actually have the opposite effect: If the tariffs damage the Mexican economy, more people may try to cross the border in search of work in the United States.
I guess Trump just enjoys punishing.
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12 responses to “Blame Mexico”
But surely if Mexico suffers economically, that will make them more effective at preventing people from entering the US, and it will make Mexicans less likely to try to enter the US. This guy’s got something.
Snerk. Fer sher.
Do I detect a subtle whiff of scaremongering bullshit?
Meanwhile, if prices on imported goods goes up here, his base might have to pay more for things they don’t even realize are imported.
When supply exceeds demand, prices of whatever is being supplied go down. When that supply is a glut of migrant workers, employers can pay even less for their services. This is, of course, excellent news for Trump, because his golf resorts and hotels can really slash their wage bills and so increase profits.
Hang on. What am I saying? There’s no way DJT would make policies in order to boost his own company’s profits. Not Honest Don.
A vulgar display of his own stupidity and vindictiveness.
Speaking of his stupidity, here’s Trump on Boris Johnson, with a steaming pile of nonsensical self-aggrandizement.
Trump the kingmaker!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/01/trump-backs-boris-johnson-tory-leadership-calls-duchess-sussex-nasty
What if other countries get together to punish the US for not doing enough to remove Trump from office?
So forgive my ignorance, but Trump’s toughguy stance on immigration is to charge Americans more for things that come from Mexico?
I know we are no longer in a world where anything makes any sense at all, but that doesn’t make any sense at all.
Or, rather, we can each make up our own fictional consequences. I, for example, prefer to make up the conclusion that American companies will choose to manufacture stuff on their own instead of buying it from Mexico, so they will hire ever increasing numbers of Mexicans to do the actual work.
Literally every other ill-conceived pseudo-analysis is equally valid.
Must have seen that ad:
“This one weird trick stops immigrants in their tracks.”
latsot @ 9 – well Trump thinks or pretends to think that the tariffs are something Mexico pays to the US. Everybody keeps telling him no, they’re not, they’re a tax on the people in the US who buy the products, but they might as well piss on a volcano.
Tariffs are one of Trump’s favorite tools right now, because he can impose them without approval from Congress or any judicial oversight (so far, at least). If he could put tariffs on immigration, abortions, or “voting while black” he would.
No oversight from other branches is why he’s also enjoying abusing the pardon power and “Medal of Freedom” recently for the same reason.