MEXICO CITY - Mexico's president said on
Friday he would respond with "great prudence" to threats by his
U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Mexican goods
entering the United States, and called on Mexicans to unite to
face the challenge.
Trump says he will introduce punitive tariffs on June 10 if
Mexico does not halt the flow of illegal immigration from
Central America to the United States, battering Mexican
financial assets and hurting stocks worldwide.
It is the biggest foreign policy test to date for President
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who during his six months in power
has consistently sought to deflect Trump's barbs and avoid
embroiling himself in confrontations.
Lopez Obrador predicted the Trump administration would
rectify the tariff threat and said that Foreign Minister Marcelo
Ebrard would be in Washington working to convince the U.S.
government that Trump's measures were in neither country's
interest, and that Mexico was making progress containing
migration.
Trump said on Thursday he would ratchet up tariffs unless
Mexico stopped people from illegally crossing the border it
shares with the United States. The plan would impose a 5% tariff
on Mexican imports starting on June 10 and increase monthly, up
to 25% on Oct. 1.
Speaking at his regular morning news conference, Lopez
Obrador said he believed Trump would understand that the tariff
threat was not the way to resolve the matter, and stressed that
Mexicans had united behind his government.
"I tell all Mexicans to have faith, we will overcome this
attitude of the U.S. government, they will make rectifications
because the Mexican people doesn't deserve to be treated in the
way being attempted," Lopez Obrador said.
Exports to the United States of goods from avocados to cars
and televisions are vital to the Mexican economy. Mexico sends
around 80 percent of its exports to the United States.
Mexico's main stock index fell more than 2% after opening,
and the peso currency was down 3% against the dollar.
Since taking office in December, Lopez Obrador has urged
Trump to help him tackle migration by promoting economic
development in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, where most
of the migrants apprehended on the U.S. border come from.
A veteran leftist who won a landslide election victory in
July 2018, Lopez Obrador has shied away from foreign policy
entanglements, preferring to leave diplomacy to Ebrard.
Though Lopez Obrador again stressed the need for diplomacy
on Friday, he has in the past offered pointed criticism of Trump
over migration policy. He was adamant that he had the support of
Mexicans living both in Mexico and the United States.
Lopez Obrador in early 2017 likened Trump's attitude towards
migrants to Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews.
In a letter responding to Trump's announcement on Thursday,
Lopez Obrador called Trump's policy of America First "a fallacy"
and accused him of turning the United States into a "ghetto"
that stigmatized and mistreated migrants.
Mexico has yet to receive a reply to the letter, according
to Lopez Obrador, who said he would hold news conferences at the
weekend about his government's progress.
Trump's tariff move rattled investors who feared worsening
trade friction could hurt the global economy.