The Trump administration resumed negotiations with Mexican officials on Friday, though still moving toward slapping a 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods on Monday, officials said.
“They’ve made a lot of progress over the course of the last few days. The meetings have gone well, but we’re still on track for tariffs on Monday,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Air Force One as President Donald Trump flew back to Washington from Europe.
The president sounded optimistic about reaching a deal in a tweet from the presidential plane.
“If we are able to make the deal with Mexico, & there is a good chance that we will, they will begin purchasing Farm & Agricultural products at very high levels, starting immediately,” the tweet said. “If we are unable to make the deal, Mexico will begin paying Tariffs at the 5% level on Monday!
In order for the tariffs to go into effect on June 10, Trump has to sign an executive order directing them to do so on Friday, a White House official confirmed to NBC News. The order would not be binding, the official noted, meaning Trump could still pull the plug on the tariffs over the weekend if the two sides were to strike a deal.
Asked if it was possible Trump would do so, Kevin Hassett, the outgoing chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, told NBC News the president “always has every option on the table.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters in Mexico City that “it’s a good sign that talks have not broken down.”
“There is dialogue and an agreement can be reached. I’m optimistic we can achieve that,” Obrador said.
Trump announced that he would impose the tariff last week, and that it would “gradually increase” until “Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory.”
The two sides met for a third straight day on Friday. Administration officials say there has been “significant progress,” but stressed that Trump will have the final say.
A White House official told NBC News after negotiations Thursday that Mexico seemed willing to entertain a number of proposals that the White House had put on the table Wednesday.
Those proposals include putting 6,000 Mexican national guards at the border region with Guatemala, and the possibility of a “safe third country” designation. That would include a provision requiring Central Americans to seek refuge in the first foreign country they enter.
The Washington Post reported that such a plan would mean the U.S. would deport Guatemalan asylum-seekers to Mexico, and Honduran and Salvadoran applicants to Guatemala.
Mexico had initially said a “safe third country” designation would be a red line.
The White House said Mexican officials were also considering a proposal for “Migration Protection Protocols,” which would require migrants seeking to come into the United States to stay in Mexico until their cases are processed.
According to a White House official, negotiations were now mainly being conducted between lawyers for both countries, including White House counsel Pat Cipollone. That was viewed as a sign the talks were pretty far along, but the source said Thursday it was “premature” to say there’s a deal in place.
Marc Short, chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, told Fox News that Cipollone was going “to try to hammer out some more details.”
Short told reporters outside the White House that Mexico’s first proposals on Wednesday had been “insufficient,” but that the administration had been encouraged by how talks have proceeded since then.
“The legal teams are talking today, and we’ll see how that progresses, but it’s clear that there’s still a long way to go,” Short said.
The proposed tariffs have been opposed by Democrats and several Senate Republicans, who’ve warned they could have a negative impact on the U.S. economy. Trump has said Republicans would be “foolish” to try to block his plans.
Hallie Jackson, Peter Alexander and Reuters contributed.