While Trump has repeatedly stated that Mexico will pay for it, both Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and former President Vicente Fox Quesada have met Trump on his favorite platform for spewing “alternative facts”, tweeting that their country does not support the construction of the wall, nor will they be paying for it.
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“I want to make sure we have a secure border, which means that we get more border patrol, more technology, camera sensors, to make sure that we secure the border”, he says.
Pena Nieto said he had ordered Mexico’s 50 consulates in the U.S. to act as legal counsel for the rights of Mexican migrants. He said that 50 Mexican consulates in the U.S. would be used in defending the rights of immigrants in the country.
“German executives tell me it always makes more sense to put your production base closer to your sales operations”.
The chamber is hosting its first cross-border business forum on February to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, an agreement that has increased commerce between the United States and Mexico, but that Trump has called a disaster and a job-killer.
“I wouldn’t imagine there would be a directive from the Mexican government saying, ‘Just let them all pass, ‘ ” he says. But then he claimed that the cancellation was a decision he made jointly with his Mexican counterpart.
Manuel Suarez-Mier, a columnist for Mexico’s Excelsior newspaper, told Al Jazeera from Washington DC that Trump’s ultimatum came as a surprise for the Mexican government.
But when Trump pulled off the election-day shocker two months later, Videgaray was suddenly summoned back to the presidential palace and appointed foreign minister so he could oversee the Nafta renegotiation talks. Some contracts may include language that allows them to be re-opened if there is a big change in external environment, but how a border tax would affect those contracts isn’t clear, said Afolabi Ogunnaike, an analyst at Wood MacKenzie Ltd.in Houston.
Trump said that he wants to build an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall” between the U.S. and Mexico.
Trump’s plan has also been roundly condemned by other Latin American leaders.
In response, the Mexican president tweeted in Spanish, that he informed the White House that he would not be attending the meeting.
Earlier Mr Pena Nieto said he “lamented” the plans for the barrier. “He is interested in appearances”, Zepeda said.
Taxpayers for Common Sense called it a “Wall of Waste”, and said it won’t solve much of the illegal immigration problem. Trump added that “some” were presumably good people, but the comments nonetheless deeply offended many Mexicans.
Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are due to meet next week.
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On Tuesday, ahead of their trip to Washington, the economy and foreign relations secretaries suggested that Mexico could leave NAFTA if negotiations with Washington are unsatisfactory – though that would not be the first choice.
