The United States and Mexico have reached a deal to avoid a 5% tariff on Mexican goods that was set to go into effect on Monday.
President Donald Trump announced the news Friday night on his Twitter account. He said Mexico and the U.S. reached “a signed agreement,” and the threatened tariffs against Mexico “are hereby indefinitely suspended.”
“Mexico, in turn, has agreed to take strong measures to stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border,” Trump said, noting further details would be released by the State Department.
The tariff threat began last week, when the White House announced plans to slap a 5% tariff on imports from Mexico unless the country took satisfactory action to address illegal immigration into the United States. The tariffs were scheduled to increase an additional 5% at the beginning of every month until reaching 25% in October.
Mexico and the Trump administration were locked in negotiations this week to avoid the tariffs. A Mexican delegation traveled to Washington for meetings with administration officials, including talks with Vice President Mike Pence.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday night that "the United States looks forward to working alongside Mexico to fulfill these commitments so that we can stem the tide of illegal migration across our southern border and to make our border strong and secure."
Farm groups were concerned the tariffs would torpedo the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement, the Trump administration’s update to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The deal has been negotiated but is pending ratification by all three countries. GOP lawmakers were also growing increasingly anxious about the tariffs and their potential thwart USMCA passage.
Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, offered brief commentary to the news shortly after Trump’s announcement.
“No tariffs on Mexico,” Grassley tweeted. “Mexico came through.”
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