How a 20% Mexico Tariff Could Cost U.S. Shoppers Charisse Jones - USA Today
go to original January 27, 2017

Mexico's Foreign Minister says a 20 percent tax on goods from his country to fund Donald Trump's promise of a border wall would end up impacting American consumers. Ryan Brooks reports. (Reuters)

Update: White House Softens on Mexico Tax, Says It’s in a ‘Buffet of Options’ (MarketWatch)

American consumers may have to pay more for products ranging from Toyotas to vegetables to beer if a proposal floated by President Trump to impose a 20% tariff on Mexican imports goes into effect.

Trump raised the idea of the new tax as a possible 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."

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 U.S. that amounted to $267.2 billion.

The biggest import is cars, with the U.S. spending $74 billion in 2015 for the hundreds of thousands of Chevrolet and Ram trucks, as well as Volkswagens, Fords, Hondas, Nissans and other brands that are assembled in Mexican factories.

But cars are far from the only product that U.S. importers bring in from Mexico. Other key categories include machinery, medical instruments, and mineral fuels.The country is also the U.S.' second-biggest provider of agricultural products, with imports amounting to $21 billion in 2015.

Read the rest at CNBC

Related: Counterpoint: Donald Trump’s Wall Will be Paid for by International Corporations Not Average Americans (The Inquisitr)

Related: The Peso Is Surging After Trump's Latest Tweet Railing Against Mexico (Business Insider)

Related: Mexico Launches Social Media Campaign Against US Products (Sputnik)

Related: How Much Will the Wall Cost? Each American Household Will be Forced to Pay $120 or More for Trump's Project (IBTimes)

Related: Former Mexican President Vicente Fox: 'We're Ready for the Trade War' (Today)

Related: 'We're in Trouble': Robert Reich Explains Why Trump's Plan to Tax Mexico Imports Would Be a Disaster (Raw Story)

Related: Mexico Could Benefit from Trump’s Protectionism, Citi CFO Says (Bloomberg)

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