Mexico: Tariff deal with US struck ‘fair balance’ – Washington Examiner

Mexican negotiators hailed the new tariff-averting immigration deal with the United States as a “fair balance” between their priorities and the more “drastic” proposals that President Trump initially demanded.

“I think it’s a fair balance because they had more drastic measures and proposals at the start and we reached some middle point,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said of the deal, which Trump announced Friday night.

Ebrard was particularly determined to avoid an agreement that would designate Mexico as a “safe third country,” which would require the government to take responsibility for Central American migrants who entered Mexico on their way to the United States. The compromise agreement averted Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico, as Ebrad’s team agreed to speed up a plan to deploy 6,000 members of the National Guard to the Latin American country’s southern border.

“Just as I predicted, the president backed off,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Saturday afternoon. “It is likely to have only a small impact on solving the root causes of Central American migration because many of the components are things Mexico is already doing.”

Schumer’s jab followed a report that the key components of the final deal were agreed to during discussions that have been conducted over the past several months. The National Guard deployment was promised in March, according to the New York Times, while Mexico’s agreement to retain custody of Central American migrants who seek asylum in the United States while officials review their cases was negotiated in December.

“President Trump ought to stop acting like a showman and start working with Democrats on our serious proposals to address the nation’s most pressing needs,” Schumer added.

The joint declaration released Friday night foreshadowed a renewal of tensions if the surge of migrants crossing the southwest border into the United States does not slow over the next three months.

“Both parties also agree that, in the event the measures adopted do not have the expected results, they will take further actions,” the text of the agreement affirmed.