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June
16, 2015 – In the
same speech
announcing his candidacy, Donald Trump said, “I will build a great wall—and
nobody builds walls better than me, believe me—and I’ll build them very
inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I
will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” Trump’s belief that Mexico
should finance construction for the wall led Mexican President Enrique Peña
Nieto to cancel a meeting with Trump in
June 2017, and again in
February 2018. Peña Nieto has
repeatedly said that Mexico will not fund the border wall.
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-so-far-atrocities-1-546
August 31:
'Drug dealers, criminals, rapists': What Trump thinks of Mexicans
Donald Trump, who has repeatedly disparaged Mexico during his presidential
campaign, is to visit the country for talks with the president ahead of a speech
on immigration.
February 14:Shrewd
Mexican business owners like Bojalil are starting to look for ways to reduce
their dependence on the U.S. economy as the uncertainty of Trump's policies
looms large.
February 22:Mexico bought nearly 25% of all U.S. corn last year, totaling $2.6 billion.
It's the second biggest market in the world for U.S. corn only behind Japan.
February 22:
Already, investment and interest in Mexico is starting to come from across
the oceans ... Experts say that Trump's criticism of Mexico is only playing into the hands
of China and others.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/22/news/economy/mexico-us-corn/
February 23:
"This dynamic trade relationship has also helped create millions of jobs on both
sides of the border," [Secretary of Homeland Security John] Kelly said, during a
visit with Mexico's president, foreign minister and other leaders. "The relationship between
the United States and Mexico is among, I believe, the most critical in the
world."
March 9:Does border drop mean Trump's tough talk is working?
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/08/politics/border-crossings-huge-drop-trump-tough-talk/index.html
March 9:"Well, the bullies can gloat and preen that they chased the skinny kids off the
block," said Leon Rodriguez, a former Obama administration director of US
Citizenship and Immigration Services. "We need to understand what has occurred
here. Poor people -- in many cases, mothers with children or children alone,
fleeing intolerable violence and poverty -- have been scared away. Many of those
are people with legitimate asylum claims that would ultimately have been granted
had they actually reached ports of entry."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/08/politics/border-crossings-huge-drop-trump-tough-talk/index.html
April 3:Mexican officials kick off talks
with their counterparts in the European Union on Monday to updatetheir own free trade agreement initially signed in 2000. Talks
between the two sides have taken on a sense of urgency and are on an
accelerated schedule now -- the first time Mexico and EU held these talks
was in 2013 ... Both sides had expressed a desire for a new agreement for
years, but only announced "accelerated" trade talks shortly after Trump took
office.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/03/news/economy/mexico-pivots-eu-trade-talks/index.html?iid=ob_article_footer_expansion
May 18: If there was a
single theme to emerge from today's second go at joint Cabinet-level
meetings with the Mexican government, it came across stunningly loud and
clear: That the real heart of Mexico's ongoing, bloody battle with hard
drug production, organized crime and murder lies firmly in the United
States.
October 27:
The Trump administration scored a victory against Mexico this week in a
longstanding trade battle.
The U.S. and Mexico have been locked in a dispute over how tuna is fished in
Mexico. The U.S. claims that Mexican fishermen allow dolphins to be netted and
killed when they fish for tuna. Therefore, U.S. officials say that Mexican tuna
fish can't be labeled "dolphin safe."
Mexican leaders deny that the country's fishing industry isn't in compliance
with rules imposed by the World Trade Organization and they demand their tuna
get the "dolphin-safe" labeling. If it doesn't get that label, several major
U.S. supermarkets, like Walmart, won't sell it, even though it can still legally
cross the border.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/27/news/economy/us-mexico-trade-dolphin-safe-tuna/index.htm
February 24: Mexican President Enrique Peña
Nieto has called off an official trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S.
President Donald Trump reportedly after a tense phone call.
Peña Nieto was planning the trip for either this month or
early March, according to the Washington Post which first reported the
cancellation.
April 4: “We are scared, just like you,”
Irineo Mujica, the head coordinator of the migrant caravan, told the assembled
group through a megaphone Tuesday morning. “Now President Donald Trump has said
that he wants to hit us with nuclear bombs.”
April 6: Mexican President to Trump:
'Nothing and no one stands above the dignity of Mexico' ... Peña Nieto addressed
his American counterpart directly
"President Trump: if you wish to reach agreements with Mexico, we stand ready,
as we have proved until now, always willing to engage in a dialogue, acting in
earnestness, in good faith and in a constructive spirit," he said. "If your
recent statements are the result of frustration due to domestic policy issues,
to your laws or to your Congress, it is to them that you should turn to, not to
Mexicans. We will not allow negative rhetoric to define our actions. We will
only act in the best interest of Mexicans."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/06/politics/enrique-pena-nieto-trump-border-response/index.html
April 11: A video obtained by NBC News shows
U.S. Border Patrol agents attempting to break international law by forcing an
injured and mentally unstable man back into Mexico by falsely claiming that he
is not in their custody, failing to identify him and assuming he is Mexican
because "he looks like it."
May 31: The Trump administration is imposing
tariffs on steel
and aluminum
imports from Europe, Canada and Mexico after a month-long exemption expires at
midnight. Steel imports will be taxed at 25 percent and aluminum at 10 percent
under proclamations Mr. Trump
signed in March and
reconfirmed Thursday.
June 6: Mexico responded in kind to U.S.
President Donald Trump’s metals tariffs by imposing its own duties on American
steel on Tuesday, while also targeting politically sensitive agricultural
products from pork to bourbon.
20 percent on U.S. pork legs and shoulders as well as hams and sausages.
25 percent rate on over 40 product designations, such as bars and flat-rolled
steel.
20 percent on apples, potatoes, cranberries, parmesan and grated cheese.
25 percent on “Tennessee” whiskey and bourbon, fresh cheese.
June 15: President Donald Trump stunned his
fellow world leaders at the G7 meeting when he said he would ship “25 million”
Mexicans to Japan, which would result in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe losing his
next election.
During the gathering in Quebec — which ended with Trump leaving early
and refusing to sign the traditional joint communique — the president was
talking about what he called Europe’s immigration problem when he turned his
attention to the Japanese leader.
August 27: U.S. and Mexican negotiators
worked through the day Sunday to conclude their talks, which focus primarily on
autos that will be accepted without tariffs in the United States. The agreement
provides that 85 percent of the parts in the car must be made in North America
to be considered for tariff-free imports.
Trump had demanded a rewrite of NAFTA, claiming that Mexico was stealing jobs
and taking advantage of the previous NAFTA agreement, citing the fact that
Mexico enjoyed a $63.6 billion trade surplus with the United States in 2017.
Critics pointed out that much of that surplus came from cars that were assembled
from parts made in the U.S. and Canada, but the total car price was included in
the bilateral Mexican-U.S. trade figures.
There is no formal free trade deal between the US and Mexico, only an agreement
between the two countries on how to resolve key issues in their trade
relationship as part of the NAFTA talks. The US trade representative's office
officially described the agreement as "a preliminary agreement in principle ...
to update the 24-year-old NAFTA with modern provisions representing a 21st
century."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/27/politics/trump-nafta-deal/index.html
August 31: 'Drug dealers, criminals,
rapists': What Trump thinks of Mexicans
Donald Trump, who has repeatedly disparaged Mexico during his presidential
campaign, is to visit the country for talks with the president ahead of a speech
on immigration.
October 20: Trump reportedly wanted to shut
down the entire US-Mexico border, but his aides talked him out of it
President Trump is
continuing his calls to shutter the US-Mexico border, in an effort to stop
caravans of thousands of migrants, seeking shelter from deadly violence in
Central America.
Trump reportedly told aides this summer to "close the whole thing!" The
Washington Post reported, a near unprecedented move that would not only shut
down border crossings, but also halt trade, and potentially chill relations
between Mexico and the US.
Human rights expert and historian Dana Frank told the Associated Press that the
determination of the migrants underscores how bad the situation in Central
America has become, highlighting "how desperate the Honduran people are — that
they'd begin walking toward refuge in the United States with only a day pack
full of belongings."
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wanted-to-close-us-mexico-border-report-2018-10
November 19:
Shouting 'Mexico First,' Hundreds In Tijuana March Against Migrant Caravan
The march is a foreboding sign for the migrants who have formed caravans to
cross Mexico in hopes of reaching the United States. Many, but not all, of the
migrants have come to Tijuana, which borders San Diego, to request asylum in the
U.S. They come primarily from Honduras, though some are from other Central
American countries. A number of the asylum-seekers say they can't return home
after receiving threats from street gangs such as MS-13 and the 18th Street
gang, as well as threats from government figures in their countries.
November 25: U.S.- Mexico border crossing at
San Ysidro closed; tear gas launched at migrants
The U.S.-Mexico border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry was closed in both
directions Sunday after hundreds of migrants rushed the area, prompting federal
authorities to launch tear gas in an effort to get the group to disperse.
The confrontation highlights the escalating tensions along the border as
thousands of migrants from Central America poured into Tijuana in recent weeks
seeking asylum to enter the U.S.
President Trump has pushed to keep any migrants in Mexico as they await the
immigration process.
The incident marks a serious escalation in the tensions that have roiled Tijuana
in recent weeks as thousands of migrants from Central America have amassed there
with hopes for entering the United States. President Trump has vowed to seal off
the Mexican border in recent days and pushed to keep any migrants in Mexico as
they await the immigration process.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials closed southbound vehicle and
pedestrian crossings at noon Sunday. Northbound vehicle traffic processing at
San Ysidro also was suspended, and the pedestrian crossings at the San Ysidro
port of entry were closed.
November 26: The busiest U.S. border
crossing is open again this morning, after a confrontation forced it to close
temporarily Sunday, as frustration among thousands of migrants upset by the slow
pace of the U.S. asylum process boiled over. Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border
Patrol
agents fired tear gas at hundreds of people, including women and
children, after some of them tried to force their way across the border between
San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.
November 28: Mexican Government Gives Jared
Kushner Highest Honors, Angering Critics
The award choice has shocked many in Mexico ... where President Trump is not
well-liked.
Trump has repeatedly made disparaging comments about Mexicans, referring to them
as "rapists" during his campaign launch, and has been relentless in his calls
for a border wall. Peña Nieto's handling of the U.S. president — especially
inviting then-candidate Trump to Mexico's presidential residence in the summer
of 2016 — has sent the Mexican leader's popularity plunging. Peña Nieto's
approval rating is in the low 20s as he prepares to leave office this Saturday,
according to the polling firm Consulta Mitofsky.
December 28: Trump
threatens to seal off US-Mexico border 'entirely' if Congress does not agree
funding for a wall
Analysts have warned that closing the border would cost hundreds of millions of
dollars a day, with an estimated $558 billion in goods being transported across
the border in both directions last year.
Such a move would also cause chaos for the nearly half a million people who are
estimated to enter the US through its southern border each day.
As he doubled down yesterday, Mr Trump also reissued threats to shut off aid to
the three Central American countries from which a majority of migrants
attempting to enter the US originate.
January 25:
U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico need to come off, manufacturers plead
American automakers, aluminum producers, manufacturers and farmers are running
out of time, money and patience as the North American tariff standoff persists,
and they're pleading with the United States to put an end to it.
Industry emissaries are warning U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that President Donald Trump's tariffs on Mexican
and Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as their reciprocal countermeasures,
are rapidly undermining whatever benefits the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will
produce once it takes effect.
"The damage from the reciprocal trade actions in the steel dispute far outweighs
any benefit that may accrue to them from the USMCA," the group writes in a
letter released this week by a coalition of more than 40 different industry
associations and lobby groups.
