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Trump claims Mexico will pay for his border wall... but the White House struggles to explain how
Trump claims Mexico will pay for his border wall because of the new North American trade deal, but the White House struggles to explain how
PUBLISHED 33 MIN AGO | UPDATED MOMENTS AGO
Stephanie Dhue
@STEPHANIEDHUE
President Trump and the White House are claiming that the newly renegotiated North American trade deal means that Mexico is going to pay for the southern border wall Trump promised on the campaign trail.
The argument is part of the White House’s position on border security as Trump urges Congress to pony up $5 billion for the wall while lawmakers seek a deal to avoid a shutdown.
Yet the administration has struggled to explain how the pact ensures that Mexico will actually foot the bill for the barrier.
President Donald Trump and the White House are claiming that the newly renegotiated North American trade deal will mean that Mexico is going to pay for the southern border wall promised by Trump on the campaign trail.
The argument is part of the White House’s position on border security as Trump urges Congress to pony up $5 billion for the wall while lawmakers seek a spending deal to avoid a shutdown on Saturday. Yet the administration has struggled to explain how the pact — an updated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed 25 years ago — ensures that Mexico will actually foot the bill for the barrier.
“The president has been clear, that the USMCA deal would provide additional revenue through the deal that would show that Mexico is paying for the wall,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Tuesday, referring to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Trump tweeted last week that the money would come from savings, not necessarily revenue: “Our new deal with Mexico (and Canada), the USMCA, is so much better than the old, very costly & anti-USA NAFTA deal, that just by the money we save, MEXICO IS PAYING FOR THE WALL!”
more
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/18/administration-fails-to-explain-how-usmca-could-pay-for-the-wall.html