A new diplomatic stand off has erupted between the United States and Mexico as President Donald Trump triggered a new debate on who will build a wall along the border of the two countries. It started with the Trump administration seeking to impose a 20 per cent tax on imports from countries with a trade deficit with the US like Mexico to fund the construction of the wall. The issue even led to cancellation of Mexican President's visit to the US and the White House later clarified that the plan was simply "one idea."
According to The New York Times, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, told reporters that the tax would be used to pay for the border wall, estimated to cost as much as $20 billion. However, later, Spicer sought to temper his remarks saying the plan was simply “one idea” that might work to finance the wall. He added that it was not the job of the White House to “roll something out” on tax policy. Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said the administration was considering “a buffet of options.”
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Spicer told reporters, travelling with Trump from Philadelphia to Washington DC aboard the Air Force One, "If you tax that USD 50 billion at 20 per cent of imports, which is by the way a practice that 160 other countries do... By doing it we can do USD 10 billion a year and easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone."
"Right now we are focused on Mexico, but I think as we look comprehensively at our trade situation and countries that we have a deficit for, this is something the president has been talking about holistically," he said.
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On Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's decision to cancel his planned trip to the US next week, President Trump said such a meeting would be "fruitless unless Mexico is going to treat America fairly".
"The President of Mexico and myself have agreed to cancel our planned meeting scheduled for next week," Trump said in his remarks at Republican retreat in Philadelphia.
"Unless Mexico is going to treat the US fairly with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless and I want to go in different route. We have no choice," he said.
"Border security is a serious, serious national issue and problem. A lack of security poses a substantial threat to the sovereignty and safety of the United States of America and its citizens," Trump said.
"Most illegal immigration is coming from our southern border. I've said many times that the American people will not pay for the wall. I've made that clear to the government of Mexico," he asserted.
Mexican President reacted sharply to it with a video statement released on twitter. “I regret and condemn the United States’ decision to continue with the construction of a wall that, for years now, far from uniting us, divides us,” he said.
Trump responded, “If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”
