𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗣 𝟮𝟱% 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙 𝗢𝗡 𝗡𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 $𝟱𝟬𝟬𝗕 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗠𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗖𝗢

 

Collage by editor

We submit the latest words of wisdom from President-Elect Donald Trump with Trump's typical random capitalization and hyperbole:

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders . . . . . . . . This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”

We'll see how this all plays out.  After all, Trump's promise to finish the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump 1,954 mile border wall resulted in about 400 miles of secondary barriers, but only 49 miles of actual new wall built.  Mexico didn't "pay for it" either as Trump had promised. Instead, he transferred nearly $15B from the segment of government he disrespects the most, the Department of Defense.

Of all U.S. imports, 72.5% come from Mexico, our largest trading partner with nearly $500B worth of products coming in annually.

It's not just vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, lettuce, avocados and watermelons, but also 16 out of every 100 cars sold in the U.S. coming from Mexico with VW, GM and Mazda leading the way.

In 2022 the U.S. imported $692M worth of beer and tequila from Mexico with Corona Extra the leading beer and Jose Cuervo the most-imported tequila.

VW Jetta, #1 Car Import from Mexico

Mexico is certainly a main source of supply for this country's auto parts with $66.3B imported in 2023.

We've not even mentioned electronics, crude petroleum, medical instruments, plastic, gems and precious metals, all a significant part in the $475.6B imported from Mexico last year.

While it seems obvious to many economists that adding a tariff to imported goods will add to the price of those goods, Trumpers trust that their idol is playing some type of 3D chess well over the heads of such economic experts.