Trump Says Mexico ‘Wants to Make a Deal’ as Mexican Officials Head to White House to Avoid Tariffs – The New York Times

But Mexico has maintained that it is already taking action to stem the flow of migrants.

Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Martha Bárcena, said in a press conference Monday that without Mexico’s efforts, many more migrants would be arriving at American borders.

“There is a clear limit to what we can negotiate,” Ms. Bárcena said. “And that limit is Mexican dignity.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Ebrard met for a half-hour with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several other Democratic lawmakers.

Republican senators are also mobilizing to prevent the White House from moving ahead with tariffs, warning Mr. Trump on Tuesday that they were almost uniformly opposed to his plans to tax Mexican imports.

Several big states would be hit hard by the proposed tariffs on Mexican products, including Texas, Michigan, California, Illinois and Ohio, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re holding a gun to our own heads,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.

Officials at Customs and Border Protection were making preparations on Wednesday to begin imposing the tariffs just after midnight on Monday morning.

In an interview, a Customs spokesman said the department was waiting for Mr. Trump to issue a presidential proclamation, which would then by followed by a Federal Register notice, outlining the basis for the tariffs and the universe of Mexican products to which they would apply. But even without a formal order establishing the tariffs, Customers workers are already building up the informational technology infrastructure needed to apply the tariffs on Monday morning to importers bringing in goods from Mexico.