Mexico

Trump Could Really Mess Up Mexico’s Economy

... Among his proposed policies, Trump has threatened to renegotiate or completely withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and impose a 35 percent tax on businesses that ship goods to the U. S. after relocating out of the country. Either policy could be devastating for the Mexican economy. “If Trump implements all the policies he’s been talking about, the next year to year and a half could be very complicated for Mexico,” said Jesús Peña Gonzalez, an economist and director of a manufacturing firm in Monterrey, Mexico. Mexico’s economy has long depended on trade with the U. S., and those ties have only deepened since 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement lowered trade barriers between the two nations. Mexican exports more than quadrupled since NAFTA went into effect; they accounted for 37.5 percent of Mexico’s gross domestic product ...

As Mexico Security Spending Slows, Some Fear Ever-worsening Murder Tally

... data until October 2016, and found that expenditure at entities such as the federal police, the army, the navy, the national migration institute, the interior ministry and the attorney general's office, rose by about a quarter between 2013, Pena Nieto's first year in office, and 2015. Since then, however, spending has slowed. For example, total 2016 spending at the attorney general's office, which investigates felonies, is on track to be the lowest since before 2012. The president's office declined to comment, directing enquiries to each ministry. Neither the army, the navy, nor the attorney general's office replied to requests for comment. The Interior Ministry said the number of murders was nearly 10,000 lower in the first 47 months of Pena Nieto's term than in the last 47 months of his predecessor's, but did not answer further questions. The rise in murders has dealt another blow to the unpopular Pena Nieto, who is already reeling from a struggling economy and a litany of scandals. Crime and insecurity cost businesses 138.9 billion pesos in 2015, or 0.73 percent of gross domestic product, while households shouldered costs ...

Mexico’s President May Nix His U.s. Trip After Trump Orders Wall

... to jumpstart construction of his promised U. S.-Mexico border wall and cut federal grants for immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities." As early as Thursday, he is expected to pause the flow of all refugees to the U. S. and indefinitely bar those fleeing war-torn Syria. "Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders," Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security. "We are going to save lives on both sides of the border.". The actions, less than a week into Trump's presidency, fulfilled pledges that animated his candidacy and represented a dramatic redirection of U. S. immigration policy. They were cheered by Republicans allies in Congress, condemned by immigration advocates and the trigger for immediate new tension with the Mexican government. Trump is expected to wield his executive power again later this week with the directive to dam the refugee flow into the U. S. for at least four months, in addition to the open-ended pause on Syrian arrivals. Mexico’s Richest Man Carlos Slim Just Called a Rare ...

U.s. Provides Aid Worth $320 Million A Year To Mexico; Experts Say Yanking It Could Hurt

... be taken into areas where walls are built, they’ll be taken through ports of entry and flood the US market,” said Adam Isacson, a regional and military security specialist at Washington Office on Latin America, a research and advocacy group. Jones of Rice University said the Mexican government believes the drug problem is one of U. S. consumption rather than the cartels themselves, so if the United States cuts aid and our relations turn more hostile, “they’re going to be more likely to turn a blind eye to cartel activity as long as it focuses on exporting to the United States.”. Matthew Taylor, senior fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the wall construction order and the attempted negotiation itself has made for “one of the more disastrous weeks in U. S.-Latin American relations.”. “The more uncertainty we generate though this attempt at negotiation, the more likely the ...

The 20 Percent Tariff On Mexico That Wasn’t

... broader tax-slashing plan. In other words, Spicer was really just saying that Trump will pay for the wall with the part of the Republican tax plan that increases revenue. This isn’t a very good answer, since the revenue generated by border adjustment is already needed to offset the GOP’s other tax cuts. But it’s not a “so wild it’s newsworthy” answer. Economists predict that border adjustment would not actually impact the trade deficit, as the tax break it gives to exporters would be immediately countered by a strengthened dollar. And the proposal is much less likely to raise consumer prices than a 20 percent tariff on Mexican goods. The Trump White House has generated alarming, ill-explained proposals at such a steady clip, the fact that the press assumed the most sensational interpretation of Spicer’s remarks is understandable. But it’s unfortunate — because the end result was something that could be fairly described as “fake news.” We need ...

How A 20% Mexico Tariff Could Cost U.s. Shoppers

... way to finance a wall that would straddle the border separating the U. S. from Mexico, currently its third largest partner in the trade of goods, according to the U. S. Trade Representative. William Gale, co-director of the Tax Policy Center, says that while a stronger dollar could minimize the pain U. S. shoppers feel, “the irony of putting a tariff on Mexican goods is that, to the extent it raises consumer prices in the U. S., consumers will be paying for the wall, not Mexican producers.’. Trump import tax to pay for Mexican wall would hit American consumers. Mexico sent $295 billion worth of goods across the U. S. border in 2015, the office of the Trade Representative says. Overall, U. S. imports from its southern neighbor peaked at $316.4 billion that year. That's in contrast to Mexican-bound exports from the ...

11 Ways To See A Whole New Side Of Mexico

... 12. It'll be a tasting menu, $600 a head. And you'll just have to trust them. . For the Sweats. At the end of a hike up Tepozteco Mountain in Tepoztlán, you'll find a 12 th-century temple to Tepoztecatl, an Aztec god of drink—or, specifically, pulque, a pre-Hispanic tipple of fermented agave sap, still sold in town. (Try one. Actually, try a few.). It all makes for an apt intro to an intoxicating place whose presence in Aztec myth supports its status among big-city weekenders as a hippie hideaway. Spas are everywhere in Tepoztlán, and chief among these is the temazcal, an igloo-shaped stone-and-adobe sweat lodge whose form is said to echo Mother Earth's own womb, so that each temazcal experience is a rebirth. You can get the authentic guided experience at Hotel Teocalli, where a temazcalero leads you through a series of pre-steam chants, stretches, and herb inhalations. Then, as you enter the temazcal—claustrophobes, turn back now—medicinal herbs are burned as well as infused in the water thrown on walls to create ...

Us Banks Slash Their Exposure To Mexico

... reduced its cross-border holdings, Citigroup officials of late have expressed an interest in continuing investment in Mexico. Gustavo Graf | Bloomberg | Getty Images. A customer exits a Citigroup Inc. Banamex bank branch in Mexico City, Mexico. CEO Michael Corbat told analysts during the fourth-quarter conference call that the bank can adapt to policy changes. "If you go back to our history 205 years and since then, through wars, through trade wars, through depressions, through recessions, we've supported U. S. companies all over the world and in this, we will continue to do that," Corbat said, according to a Thomson Reuters transcript of the call. "I think a lot of it depends on what form any type of tariffs may take on, and it's tough to tell.". As far as Trump's plans specifically, Corbat said he found them "workable," noting that "we maneuvered these types of things before and we think we've got the ability to work with them in the future.". Banks, of course, have been the big beneficiaries of the stock market rally ...

Latin America Leaders Condemn Trump's Mexico Wall At Celac Summit

... Latin America Editor. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - Outrageous. Disgusting. Nauseating. These are just a few of the long list of qualifiers against the Trump administration's announcement to go ahead with building the infamous wall separating the United States from the rest of Latin America. "We have to protect ourselves from the aggressive policy of persecuting migrants. The attacks against human rights is one of the central topics that brought us to this summit," said Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa as he arrived in Punta Cana. "Our commitment is to defend the right to migrate, the most important form of movement. It is not the flow of capital or the flow of merchandise, but rather the mobility of human beings, which is a human right," Correa added. Ten heads of state and 33 foreign ministers gathered at the ...

Kellyanne Conway On Trump's Voter Fraud Claims, Mexico And The Media

... voter fraud and the administration’s relationship to the press.2017-01-26 18:00:00 disabled 2365942797 YQRpgg 01 xh U 205127205128 __link__/newshour/bb/trumps-wall-means-u-s-relations-mexico/What Trump's wall means for U. S. relations with Mexico What do President Trump's latest actions on immigration mean for U. S. relations with Mexico? Former State Department official Roger Noriega and James Carafano from the Heritage Foundation join Antonio Mora to discuss the apparent rift between President Trump and Mexico’s President Enrique Peña over the decision to build a wall along the southern border.2017-01-26 18:00:00 __link__/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/RTSWFTD-320 x 196.jpg 2365942802-gy M 8 S 0 qv Q 0205105205109 __link__/newshour/bb/white-house-floats-import-tax-amid-tensions-mexico/White House floats import tax amid tensions with Mexico President Trump's push for a wall on the border has opened a diplomatic rift with ...

Dispute Over Border Wall Plunges U.s. Into Crisis With Mexico, As Mexican President Scraps White House Visit

... however, that such favorable trends could be reversed under Trump. Nowhere is that more important than in Mexico. (Kate Linthicum). “It has taken a generation to build the relationship,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas, an advocacy group in Washington. “Now it has taken a new direction. This is a new day.”. Relative prosperity and stability in Latin America has been predicated in large part on increased integration and free trade. Trump seems intent on rolling that back. He already removed the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty, of which Mexico too is a signatory, and has announced renegotiation of NAFTA. Peña Nieto’s visit was meant to be a first step in that process. NAFTA governs an interlocking web of commerce across Mexico, the U. S. and Canada, and nurtured a sizable middle ...