Mexico Tariffs Likely To Take Effect Next Week, Trump Vows In London
Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET
New tariffs against Mexico will begin to bite next week, President Trump vowed Tuesday, unless the White House is satisfied that Mexico's government is acting with new alacrity to stop migrants from crossing into the United States.
"This will take effect next week, 5%," Trump said during his visit to London.
Trump said he's open to continuing negotiations with Mexican leaders, including at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday between its foreign minister and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The president is also willing, he said, to impose the tariffs during the ongoing negotiations to make clear he is serious.
"I think Mexico will step up and do what they should have done," Trump said at a press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May after a meeting with her at 10 Downing Street.
Trump said he won't accept any explanation about the difficulty for Mexican authorities of constraining the flow of migrants from Central and South America.
"I don't want to hear that Mexico is run by cartels and drug lords and coyotes," he said. "I don't want to hear about that ... Mexico should step up and stop this onslaught, this invasion into our country."
Trump in Downing Street
Trump and May concluded a series of meetings with general commitments to pursue a new trade deal — although apparently without one in place.
A free trade agreement has taken on new urgency for May and Britons as they eye the United Kingdom's pending exit from the European Union, which has jangled the British economy and its politics.
Brexit difficulties also are why May is nearing the end of her premiership and a leadership contest is underway within the Conservative Party to replace her.
Trump hasn't been shy before and during his visit about expressing his thoughts about a successor. He spoke by phone with former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and said on Tuesday he thought Johnson "would do a good job."
The leader of the Labor Party, meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, wanted to meet with Trump, but the president declined, Trump said. It wasn't immediately clear whether that was correct.
Corbyn has faulted Trump for his political positions and his criticism of British political figures. He also declined to attend the state dinner for Trump at Buckingham Palace given by Queen Elizabeth II on Monday evening.
On Tuesday, Corbyn addressed anti-Trump protesters in Central London around the time of the press conference between the U.S. and British leaders.
Trump, meanwhile, also continued his criticism of London's current mayor, Sadiq Kahn, in what amounted to a running war of words between the two men over the course of Trump's trip.
Kahn responded to Trump's tweets on Tuesday morning by telling CNN that the American president was acting like an "11-year-old," but that he didn't feel "it's for me to respond in a like manner."
Trump was asked about Kahn and his responses to the president's earlier comments in his press conference with May.
The president said Kahn "has not been a not very good mayor from what I understand" and blamed him for an increase in crime in the metropolis.
May, for her part, stressed that the U.S.-British relationship would remain important no matter who becomes the next prime minister.
Commitment to the special relationship
Although Trump and May did not appear to conclude the "substantial" trade deal that the president said he supports, he did soften the line his administration has taken with London over a thorny security dispute: China's mobile technology giant Huawei.
Washington has pressured its allies around the world to bar Huawei from developing new 5G mobile networks over security concerns about Beijing's ability to exploit them for its own purposes.
Huawei denies that its telecom equipment can be exploited in this way or that it's an arm of the Chinese government.
The British government, sensitive about its relationship with Beijing, has been reluctant to go along with American restrictions. Secretary of State Pompeo threatened last month that Britain's ability to share intelligence information with the United States might be on the line.
But Trump said on Tuesday he wasn't contemplating any cutoff for Britain, because he said he's sure the two sides will come to an agreement on Huawei.
"We're going to both have absolutely an agreement on Huawei and everything else," he said. "We will be able to work out any differences. I see absolutely no limitations. We've never had any limitation." [Copyright 2019 NPR]
