MERIDA: Mexican and US business leaders pushed back against President Donald Trump’s threats to close the US-Mexico border and urged him to drop steel tariffs that have hindered the ratification of a trade deal brokered last year. At a meeting in the eastern Mexican city of Merida attended by government officials from both countries, business lobbies united to call on Trump to drop his threats to disrupt border trade after days of hold-ups on the frontier. Describing the US-Mexico relationship as a top priority, US Chamber of Commerce head Tom Donohue told a news conference the United States should exempt Mexico and Canada from steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by Trump last June before its Congress approves the deal struck to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“That is why we are the first out of the gate to warn against the disastrous consequences of closing the US-Mexican border,” Donohue said, sitting next to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who warmly applauded his speech. Mexico is the United States’ second biggest export market, and third biggest trading partner. US-Mexico trade is worth about half a trillion dollars a year. Mexico and Canada want Trump to drop the metals tariffs before their lawmakers approve the deal agreed in September known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Tensions over the border are further hindering the process. — Reuters
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