The U.S. plans to issue notice today to pave the way for tariffs on Mexico to take effect Monday, but President Donald Trump could decide over the weekend to delay the move as talks continue over a surge in illegal migration, a top White House aide said.
Negotiators from the two countries will resume talks in Washington on Friday aimed at reaching a deal, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said. The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to enact a 5% tariff on Mexican imports, but the president could change course if talks go well, Short said.
Despite progress so far, “there’s a long way to go still, that’s the bottom line. And so the legal teams are talking today, and we’ll see how that progresses,” Short told reporters at the White House.
The notice for the tariffs is expected to be published Friday, he said. “But I think that there is the ability, if negotiations continue to go well, that the president can turn that off at some point over the weekend.”
Trump is returning on Friday from a week-long trip to the U.K., France and Ireland. Mexican officials have sought a delay for the tariffs in order to have more time to negotiate a response to the migration surge, but the U.S. has made clear that the final decision is up to Trump.
As of now, “we’re moving forward with the tariffs and they will go into effect Monday,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Friday on Air Force One before departing Ireland.
‘More Encouraged’
Meetings have gone well and progress has been made, Sanders said. Trump is getting regular updates from Pence, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, she said.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said earlier Friday he’s optimistic the countries will reach an agreement.
“Unfortunately, there’s a mixing of migration with commercial matters,” he said. “It’s not taking into account what’s happening in Central America, the profound crisis taking place.”
Short said that Mexico arrived at meetings on Wednesday with proposals that were “wholly insufficient.” Then, on Thursday, Mexico showed openness to some U.S. proposals and the administration was “more encouraged,” Short said. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone is leading talks Friday, Short said in a separate interview with Fox News.