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By Rebecca Shabad
WASHINGTON — Several Republicans in Congress and major business groups on Friday slammed President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 5 percent tariff on all Mexican goods starting next month, warning that the move would hurt both the U.S. economy and the chances of Congress approving a major trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
The president said Thursday that the tariffs would rise monthly to as high as 25 percent unless Mexico “substantially stops” the number of migrants entering the U.S. illegally.
“If the president goes through with this, I’m afraid progress to get this trade agreement across the finish line will be stifled,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said in a statement Friday. “While I support the need for comprehensive border security and a permanent fix to illegal immigration, this isn’t the right path forward. I’m asking the president to reconsider, and for Democrats to work with us to find a solution to the humanitarian crisis at our southern border.”
The senior senator from her state, Chuck Grassley, also a Republican, blasted Trump’s decision and even suggested that he was abusing his presidential authority.
“Trade policy and border security are separate issues,” Grassley said in a statement Thursday night. “This is a misuse of presidential authority and counter to congressional intent. Following through on this threat would seriously jeopardize passage of USMCA, a central campaign pledge of President Trump’s and what could be a big victory for the country.”
Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, the lone Republican lawmaker calling for impeachment proceedings against Trump, derided the president and his congressional supporters in a tweet Thursday.
“How many times will Congress let the president unilaterally raise taxes on Americans? All the times,” Amash said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., stopped short of criticizing the tariffs announcement, but did not back it either, saying only that he would discuss the proposal.
“There is a serious humanitarian crisis at our southern border, and it is past time for my Democratic colleagues to finally get serious about meaningful action,” he said in a statement Friday. “As our third biggest trading partner, a healthy and vibrant economic relationship with Mexico is a vital source of our joint prosperity. Any proposal that impacts this relationship deserves serious examination and I look forward to discussing this plan in greater detail with my colleagues and the administration.”
As lawmakers remained in their congressional districts for a weeklong recess, most Republicans maintained silence over the announcement.
A few voiced support for it, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who said that he backs Trump and that the “illegal flows from Central America must stop and Mexico needs to do more.”
“If Mexico does not do more we will have over a million illegal immigrants from Central America next year. I don’t like tariffs but in this case it is a national security issue and Mexico needs to change their behavior,” he tweeted.
The president staunchly defended his position on Friday, tweeting that it’s “about stopping drugs as well as illegals!”
In a letter to Trump Thursday night, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that his country would not retaliate, but suggested that the new policy would not be effective, saying that, “Social problems don’t get resolved with duties or coercive measures.”
Major U.S. business groups said that the move would have negative consequences.
“These proposed tariffs would have devastating consequences on manufacturers in America and on American consumers,” the CEO and president of the National Association of Manufacturers, Jay Timmons — whose group backs the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as USMCA, and supported the 2017 GOP tax cuts package — said in a statement. “We have taken our concerns to the highest levels of the administration and strongly urge them to consider carefully the impact of this action on working families across this country.”
Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs of major corporations, sounded a similar note. “Imposing unilateral tariffs on Mexican imports would be a grave error,” the group said in a statement, adding that it “strongly urges the administration not to move forward with these tariffs, which would create significant economic disruption and tax U.S. workers, farmers, consumers and businesses.”
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters in a conference call Thursday that the decision would not affect the trade deal.
“No, the two are absolutely not linked,” he said. “This president will defend the nation. He will defend the southern border. If that means taking the tariffs to 25 percent, that means taking the tariffs to 25 percent. We hope — sincerely hope — it does not come to that.”
Trump’s threat was “hurried out the door” by White House aides to appease the president, an administration official said. Behind the scenes, the official said there has been some “squabbling at the staff level” about the threat and potential blowback to the USMCA and overall economy. A second administration source described the situation as “flying blind” and there was no internal guidance to explain the tariff threat to the business community.
When asked if the process was rushed, a senior White House official told NBC News, “I’m sure that’s true” and acknowledged “the process was on a short timeline.” This official said there is more that could have been done to preview the president’s plans to the administration and Congress: “I don’t think that’s in question.”
Asked if the USMCA is effectively dead, a senior White House official said, “It’s too soon to say that.” The hope is that Mexico will take action to decrease border crossings before the end of the summer, the official said, giving the White House and Congress a chance to move forward on the deal.
A few hours before the tariffs announcement Thursday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had sent a letter to congressional leaders to begin the ratification process of the USMCA, and Mexico’s president had formally asked Mexico’s Senate to ratify the deal.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested in a statement that the administration’s move on the trade pact was premature.
“The Trump administration’s decision to send Congress a draft statement of administrative action before we have finished working with U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer to ensure the USMCA benefits American workers and farmers is not a positive step,” she said. “It indicates a lack of knowledge on the part of the administration on the policy and process to pass a trade agreement.”