On Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump announced the United States will be imposing a five percent tariff on all goods entering the country from Mexico. This is set to remain in place and even increase as time goes by until the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico stops. According to the president, the tariffs will go into effect on June 10 and they will increase to 10 percent on July 1. There is then the potential for them to continue to rise to as high as 25 percent by this fall. Thursday evening, U.S. Senator, Chuck Grassley, responded to the announcement, saying that trade policy and immigration are two separate issues. “This is a misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent,” Grassley says. “Following through on this threat would seriously jeopardize passage of the USMCA, a central campaign pledge of President Trump’s and what could be a big victory for the country. Grassley went on to suggest alternatives, including a fee on the billions of dollars of remittances that leave the U.S. going to Mexico. This money could be used to fund border security measures while putting economic pressure on Mexico without a financial burden to U.S. consumers and American jobs. Grassley calls for Democrats to come to the table “in a reasonable way” to work on a solution and to fully fund border security and interior enforcement. He adds, “I support nearly every one of President Trump’s immigration policies, but this is not one of them. I urge the president to consider other options.”
