Trump hits Mexico with tariffs

President Donald Trump slapped a 5 percent tariff on all Mexican goods Thursday in a bid to pressure Mexico to stop the flow of migrants across the U.S. southern border. The tariff will go into effect June 10 and continue to increase until “the illegal immigration problem is remedied,” Trump tweeted. The tax will grow by 5 percent each month, topping at 25 percent on Oct. 1, the White House said in a statement. In 2018, the United States imported $346 billion worth of goods from Mexico.

Following the news, the U.S. stock market slumped after the opening bell Friday morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite all losing ground.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday that his country is doing what it can to stop migration and that “social problems are not solved with duties or coercive measures.” He added that he is sending his foreign minister to the White House to negotiate with U.S. officials before June 10.

Migration across the border has surged in recent months, with U.S. Border Patrol arresting or turning away more than 100,000 migrants in April.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Trump’s move was a “misuse of presidential tariff authority” and warned it could “seriously jeopardize” the United States–Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement.

During a visit to Canada on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence said he hopes Congress will approve the USMCA this summer. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will decide whether the agreement is brought to a vote.