Trump Proposes to Build Wall Financed by Large Tax on Mexican Imports

No one with any political savvy would would expect the Mexican president to simply roll over and agree to write a check to the US for whatever Mr. Trump claimed the border wall will cost. That would be political suicide. Instead, this is going is going to get worked out through negotiations and strategies that run largely outside of the public’s view. It has to be that way if such a controversial plan is to succeed.

So far, we have heard Mr. Trump announce that the construction of the border wall will proceed with Mexico footing the bill. Predictably, the Mexican president has resisted. In response, Mr. Trump stated that he would tax imports to pay for it, which puts us where we are now in these negotiations.

President Trump will ask Congress to impose a 20 percent tax on all imports from Mexico to pay for a wall along the United States’ southern border, the White House said Thursday.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer did not give out specific details about the new tax or explain how it would be implemented, but he said it could be included in a comprehensive tax reform package.

“We can do $10 billion a year and easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone. That’s really going to provide the funding,” Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Note the comment that the tax on Mexican imports might be part of a “comprehensive” tax package. Clearly, we see things beginning to develop as this plan moves forward.

The announcement came after Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced he would not come to Washington for a meeting with Trump after the president said he would move forward with his plan to erect the wall — and make Mexico pay for it.

Again, view this announcement by the president of Mexico as part of the theater — posturing in public as proposals and strategies are pursued just outside of public view. He must maintain an image of strength at home, and by cancelling his visit, he accomplishes just that.

Note how Mr. Trump seems to warm to ideas he had previously dismissed. Note also the claim that this plan will stimulate manufacturing jobs, something that Mr. Trump is eager to accomplish and that will bolster his support from labor.

I think the president is using every tool available to him to make sure that, as we put this wall up, he honors his commitment he made to the American people that it’s going to be paid for and that Mexico will pay for it,” Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), a close Trump ally and member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, told The Hill at the GOP retreat in Philadelphia.

“As we have been dealing on the committee on tax reform, one of the key components of tax reform is called border adjustability. That is a 20 percent tax on imports and a zero percent tax on exports.

“Anything that is going to promote American manufacturing, make American competitive, I’m going to be supportive of.”

Trump previously dismissed the plan in an interview with The Wall Street Journal as being “too complicated.”

But he seemed to offer it his approval in an address to Republicans attending the retreat.

Want a bold prediction? The wall will be built to block illegal immigration from Mexico. Mexico will end up footing the bill through one strategy or another. There will be much theater as the sides appear to be hashing it out in public. In the end, both presidents will be able to claim victory.

For all we know, both sides may already have a very good idea of how this is going to end. It’s just a matter of getting there that’s left.

Source: The Hill