US: Donald Trump announces 5% tariff on goods from Mexico in bid to stop illegal immigration

Donald Trump on Friday said the United States will impose 5% tariff on goods imported from Mexico in a bid to curb illegal immigration. Trump said the tariff would be effective from June 10.

Trump said the tariff will be removed once the Mexican government addresses the matter of illegal immigration into the United States. “On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% tariff on all goods coming into our country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our country, STOP,” Trump tweeted. “The tariff will gradually increase until the illegal immigration problem is remedied.”

In a statement released by the White House, Trump said the tariff will increase to 10% on July 1, 15% on August 1, 20% on September 1 and to 25% on October 1. The president said he was invoking his powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

“As everyone knows, the United States of America has been invaded by hundreds of thousands of people coming through Mexico and entering our country illegally,” he said in the statement. “This sustained influx of illegal aliens has profound consequences on every aspect of our national life—overwhelming our schools, overcrowding our hospitals, draining our welfare system, and causing untold amounts of crime.”

Trump claimed that “thousands of innocent lives are taken” as a result of this lawless chaos. “Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illegal drugs and narcotics of all kinds are pouring across the Southern Border and directly into our communities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Mexican peso dropped to a three-month low by 1.85% to 19.4942 per dollar after Trump’s announcement.

The US president had promised to build a border wall to prevent illegal immigrants and even declared a national emergency in February in an attempt to use federal funds for the project.