AFP, Washington :
Mexico scrambled Thursday to slow the flow of Central American migrants to the United States as talks continued in Washington to head off President Donald Trump’s threat of potentially catastrophic tariffs on Mexican goods.
Mexico City was deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to its southern border with Guatemala, blocked hundreds of migrants in a new caravan and froze the bank accounts of suspected human traffickers in hopes of appeasing Washington’s demands.
But in the US capital, negotiators holding a second day of talks were still trying to find agreement on issues including asylum application procedures and financial aid to the Central American countries that are the source of most of the migrants.
“We have been working this afternoon, we still do not have an agreement,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said as talks wrapped for the day. “Tomorrow we have another session in the morning and we will continue forward.”
With migrant apprehensions at the border with Mexico soaring to 144,000 in May, the highest number in 13 years, the Trump administration has threatened to hit all imports from Mexico with a five percent tariff starting Monday, a move that could savage the export-dependent Mexican economy.
Trump made the threat last week, saying that the tariffs would rise by five percentage points each month to a high of 25 percent if the southern US neighbor fails to halt the northward flow of migrants.
“They have to step up to the plate, and perhaps they will,” Trump told reporters in France where he was attending D-Day commemorations.
“We’ve told Mexico the tariffs go on, and I mean it too.”
“Looks like we’re moving toward the path of tariffs,” White House communications chief Mercedes Schlapp said on Fox News.
“What we’ve seen so far, the Mexicans what they are proposing is simply not enough.” – No deal yet –
Ebrard declined to comment on whether the talks at the State Department revisited the so-called “safe third-country” option proposed by the United States, which aims at having Central American migrants fleeing chronic poverty and violence apply for asylum from Mexico rather than in the United States.
Earlier in the week Ebrard rejected the idea, but the White House declared it one of its principal demands.
The Washington Post reported that a potential deal to avoid the tariffs would allow the United States to deport asylum seekers from Honduras and El Salvador to Guatemala, which they pass through to get to Mexico and then the United States.
Ebrard’s spokesman Robert Velasco Alvarez said Thursday that there was no deal as the two sides were far apart, but that talks continue.
“The US position is focused on migrant control measures, ours is on development,” he said, referring to Mexico’s support of a broader effort to support the economies of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
At Mexico’s southern border Thursday, there were visible efforts to slow the migrants and hinder their supporters.
Mexico scrambled Thursday to slow the flow of Central American migrants to the United States as talks continued in Washington to head off President Donald Trump’s threat of potentially catastrophic tariffs on Mexican goods.
Mexico City was deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to its southern border with Guatemala, blocked hundreds of migrants in a new caravan and froze the bank accounts of suspected human traffickers in hopes of appeasing Washington’s demands.
But in the US capital, negotiators holding a second day of talks were still trying to find agreement on issues including asylum application procedures and financial aid to the Central American countries that are the source of most of the migrants.
“We have been working this afternoon, we still do not have an agreement,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said as talks wrapped for the day. “Tomorrow we have another session in the morning and we will continue forward.”
With migrant apprehensions at the border with Mexico soaring to 144,000 in May, the highest number in 13 years, the Trump administration has threatened to hit all imports from Mexico with a five percent tariff starting Monday, a move that could savage the export-dependent Mexican economy.
Trump made the threat last week, saying that the tariffs would rise by five percentage points each month to a high of 25 percent if the southern US neighbor fails to halt the northward flow of migrants.
“They have to step up to the plate, and perhaps they will,” Trump told reporters in France where he was attending D-Day commemorations.
“We’ve told Mexico the tariffs go on, and I mean it too.”
“Looks like we’re moving toward the path of tariffs,” White House communications chief Mercedes Schlapp said on Fox News.
“What we’ve seen so far, the Mexicans what they are proposing is simply not enough.” – No deal yet –
Ebrard declined to comment on whether the talks at the State Department revisited the so-called “safe third-country” option proposed by the United States, which aims at having Central American migrants fleeing chronic poverty and violence apply for asylum from Mexico rather than in the United States.
Earlier in the week Ebrard rejected the idea, but the White House declared it one of its principal demands.
The Washington Post reported that a potential deal to avoid the tariffs would allow the United States to deport asylum seekers from Honduras and El Salvador to Guatemala, which they pass through to get to Mexico and then the United States.
Ebrard’s spokesman Robert Velasco Alvarez said Thursday that there was no deal as the two sides were far apart, but that talks continue.
“The US position is focused on migrant control measures, ours is on development,” he said, referring to Mexico’s support of a broader effort to support the economies of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
At Mexico’s southern border Thursday, there were visible efforts to slow the migrants and hinder their supporters.
