President Trump's tariffs are apparently not just a threat.
Trump on Thursday affirmed that his 5 percent tariff on Mexico will take effect on June 10, even as the country's foreign ministers continue discussions in Washington, D.C., to avoid them. "Something dramatic might happen," Trump said, referring to the talks, but added that until then, "we've told Mexico the tariffs go on."
Trump promised last week that he'd place a 5 percent tariff on Mexico's goods until they curbed undocumented immigrants from crossing their border, saying it would increase by 5 percent every month until October, remaining at 25 percent until the problem was solved. Mexico's foreign minister has since arrived in Washington, and seems optimistic that Trump will change his mind. Yet after talks started Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence still indicated that "we need Mexico to do more" before Trump changes his mind.
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The tariff move isn't even popular among Trump's own party, with a swarm of GOP senators saying tariffs would only hurt the American economy. But those opponents "have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to tariffs," Trump said Thursday.
Trump also said "a lot of interesting things are happening" in his ongoing talks to craft a trade deal with China. He launched new tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods about a month ago, but said Thursday "we're getting 25 percent on $250 billion, and I can go up another at least $300 billion."
