WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States had signed another portion of an immigration and security deal with Mexico that would need to be ratified by Mexican lawmakers.
He did not provide details but threatened tariffs if Mexico’s Congress did not approve the plan.
“We have fully signed and documented another very important part of the Immigration and Security deal with Mexico, one that the U.S. has been asking about getting for many years. It will be revealed in the not too distant future and will need a vote by Mexico’s legislative body,” Trump tweeted.
“We do not anticipate a problem with the vote but, if for any reason the approval is not forthcoming, tariffs will be reinstated.”
Trump said on Friday Mexico’s government had reached a deal with the United States to avert a tariff war by pledging to take “strong measures” to contain the migration of mostly Central Americans crossing the southern U.S. border.
Trump had threatened to impose 5% import tariffs on all Mexican goods from Monday if Mexico did not agree to his demands to tighten its borders. His announcement of a deal came after three days of Mexico-U.S. negotiations in Washington.
“The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended,” Trump said on Twitter on Friday evening.
“Mexico, in turn, has agreed to take strong measures to stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border. This is being done to greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States,” Trump added.
U.S. equity futures climbed on Monday together with stocks in Europe and Asia after Trump suspended plans for punitive tariffs on Mexican imports. Sovereign bonds fell across the board, along with gold and the yen, as demand for havens ebbed.
