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US, Mexico Trade Officials Fail to Strike Deal on Tariffs, Immigration - Reports

© AFP 2023 / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIA view of the White House in Washington, DC.
A view of the White House in Washington, DC. - Sputnik International
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Mexican representatives met with senior Trump administration officials at the White House on Wednesday in an attempt to convince Washington to forgo plans to impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods to force the Mexican government to stop the flow of migrants from Central America into the United States.

A meeting between high-level US and Mexican officials on immigration and trade concluded on Wednesday without a deal, NBC News reported, citing a senior administration official.

US President Donald Trump said in a Wednesday evening Tweet from Ireland that progress had been made, "but not nearly enough". He noted that if no agreement is reached, the first tariff will enter force on Monday.

​US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will also hold a meeting on Wednesday with Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, after a larger meeting at the White House, a State Department official said, cited by Reuters.

READ MORE: New Migrant Caravan Forming in Honduras to Attempt to Cross Into US — Reports

The bilateral talks come days before the 5 percent tariffs on all Mexican imports are set to come into force. The tariffs were slated to take effect on 10 June, as announced earlier by Trump, who then noted that the last-minute talks were unlikely to stop the tariffs from going into effect.

Earlier in the day, Reuters reported, citing Mexican government sources, that Mexico would not accept "safe third country status" which would require Central American asylum claimants to seek refuge in Mexico instead of the United States.

A Mexican flag flutters at the Zocalo square in Mexico City, on April 29, 2009. The World Health Organisation raised its flu alert to phase five out of six, WHO chief Margaret Chan said, signalling that a pandemic was imminent following the swine flu outbreak. - Sputnik International
Mexico Hopes to Prevent Trump-Proposed Tariffs in Eleventh-Hour Talks
On Tuesday, the Mexican ministries of foreign affairs, economy and agriculture issued a joint statement, in which they said that "the damages done by tariffs to the two complementary economies" amount to $117 million a month in just agriculture alone. The Economy Ministry added that the tariffs would affect all US states and "impact binational value chains, as well as consumers and the jobs created from trade with Mexico".

An increasing number of migrants from Central America have been arriving at the US border with Mexico in recent months. Trump has called the surge of arrivals a crisis and declared a national emergency in February to secure funds to build a border wall.

The Trump administration has been making efforts to stop illegal migration into the United States, even threatening to close the southern US border.

READ MORE: US Prepared to Prevent Latest Migrant Caravan From Illegal Entry — Nielsen

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