Washington, June 8 (RHC)-- U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the tariffs his administration was planning to begin collecting on all Mexican goods starting Monday have been "indefinitely suspended" since Mexico has agreed to take measures to, his in words, "stem the tide of migration through Mexico."
Mexico’s government says it will send 6,000 troops to its southern border with Guatemala, as part of the deal with Washington. Observers say that Mexico was apparently pressured into making the decision to deploy its troops. The announcement came as heavily armed Mexican soldiers and police blocked a caravan of about one thousand migrants as they walked a highway in the southern state of Chiapas.
The White House reportedly called for a deal that would require asylum seekers to seek refuge in the countries they first cross into. Under the proposal, Guatemalan migrants could only apply for asylum in Mexico; Hondurans and Salvadorans would be forced to apply as refugees in Guatemala.
The emerging plan immediately drew fire from civil liberties groups including the ACLU, which said such a change to the asylum system violates both U.S. and international laws and is unlikely to survive a legal challenge.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) sent a Mexican delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, which arrived Wednesday in the U.S. capital to participate in negotiations aimed at avoiding Trump's tariffs, the specter of which caused the Mexican peso to fall dramatically and created volatility worldwide.
The White House had threatened to impose extraordinary tariffs on all Mexican imports, starting first with a 5 percent tariff and progressively increasing it on a monthly basis until reaching 25 percent in October.
Mexican Foreign Minster Marcelo Ebrard made a statement outlining some of the terms to which Mexico agreed. Among them is that Mexico will permit its country to be used as a way station for migrants awaiting processing for asylum requests in the United States and that there is no fixed number on how many they can receive.
Late Friday evening, Mexico's foreign minister told reporters that "Mexico and the U.S. will lead the way on making Central America a place of prosperity, safety and development."
