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Trump plans to have Mexico build his wall, early Thursday morning Trump tweeted about a a new deal with Mexico and Canada (USMCA) that would replace NAFTA, while forcing Mexico to pay for the wall he intends to build and border Mexico and the US. After signing his deal in November, he awaits ratification for Congress. Some new key provisions would include new rules on automobile production, intellectual property rights and American access to Canadian dairy markets. Mr. Trump claims that the new agreement will increase economic activity in the United States, therefore generating enough tax revenue to offset the cost of his wall. However, there is a lot of skepticism as many believe that if this were to pass, the money being gained from this deal won’t actually go towards the building of the wall. There still question to how much economic growth, and how much revenue it would generate, as most trade agreements actually lead to lower federal revenue from tariffs. There just isn't enough evidence of how his plan will work.
Questions:
1)Do you think that the USMCA agreement will be approved by Canada and Mexico, along with being ratified by Congress?
2)Do you think that there will be enough money gained from Mexico to pay for his wall?
3)Do you think the overall idea of creating a border wall between Mexico and the US, while having Mexico pay for it all is a possible realistic goal?
For starters, I believe that Trump’s plan to make the new USMCA is completely irrational and entirely selfish to only benefit the United States. Therefore, for this reason, I believe that Canada and Mexico will be hesitant in agreeing to the “revised NAFTA” plan. Moreover, I believe that the new USMCA agreement will not be ratified by Congress as Congress may see the plan as irrational and another way for the world to criticize the selfish American society. On another note, if the plan were to go through, I do not even think that it would provide enough money to pay for his wall. Although certain governmental regulations on the economy will lead to some income, I think that Trump will end up displacing these funds leading to not enough money. Furthermore, the tax revenue idea from the USMCA agreement also leads to the possible rejection of the plan because tax revenues are caused by more bureaucratic regulations which the public may not want as this could lead to the US losing their role in the worldwide economy. Ultimately, I do not think that the creation of a border wall between Mexico and the US is a realistic goal because the Mexicans will begin to defy the provisions in the new agreement. Thus, Trump will not have enough funds to even pay for the wall leading to the plan failing.
ReplyDeleteSince Mexico and Canada and the United States are close trade partners, our economies are closely intertwined. I think that if Trump leverages the economic advantage that the United States had over Mexico then he might be able to get them to pay for the wall. According to the Office of the United States trade representative, "U.S. goods and services trade with Mexico totaled an estimated $615.9 billion in 2017." These figures prove how important trading with the United States is for Mexico therefore it is not completely unreasonable to believe that Trump could make them pay for the wall. The main obstacle would be to get this deal passed by Congress because not even all the Republican members believe in this cause of building a very large costly wall at the southern border. NAFTA ought to be re-negotiated because it gives power to other countries while weakening the United States which is probably the main reason why Trump is pushing for reform.
ReplyDeleteThe USMCA has potential to replace NAFTA and be ratified in Congress if it doesn't include provisions to build the wall, which is very expensive. It is a deal that would provide some manufacturing jobs and more information into the American market from Canada and Mexico, but it will address how the foreign markets will interact with America after a repeal of the NAFTA deal. Mexico has no intention of paying for the wall, and it doesn't have to as most migrants to the US are now from nations south of Mexico. I don't think the wall is a possible, realistic goal, at least Trump's idea of the wall. However, strengthening sections of our border is probable under the Trump administration.
ReplyDeleteI dont think that Mexico and Canada will find this agreement in their favor because it seems that it would mostly benefits the United States. For example, it gives access to Canadian supplies and revising the U.S. automobile industry. I dont there would be enough money to pay for this wall because I dont see congress will be ratified, and Mexico in the past has repeatedly refused to contribute to the making of the wall. However, with Mexico having a newly elected president it may be a different outcome.
ReplyDeleteThe USMCA agreement sounds like it benefits us more than the other countries. Like Jeremy said, it shouldn't have the provisions to the build the wall. This wall is a sign to the world that we don't like people who are not legal, even though our country was built by illegal immigrants. NAFTA was created to become an alliance, not separated. Mexico's new president might even break the alliance because of this foolishness. Also, Congress probably wouldn't ratify it with the Democratic party control of the House of Representatives.
ReplyDeleteWhile building a wall itself may not be that absurd, forcing Mexicans to pay for it seems impractical and unreasonable. After all, the wall would be built for the purposes of the US (or rather only those who support Trump), and it aiding the US in a certain cause in this respect, but it has really nothing to do with Mexico. Forcing them to pay for this is, therefore, not reasonable. However, Trump may find ways to get his plan of action executed, with certain threats like through trade.
ReplyDeleteAs with most of Trump's irrational tweets, this follows along the same lines due to the lack of apparent evidence or thought in the concept. Moreover, as most of the posts above have commented on, Trump's goal with the creation of the wall is simply only benefiting the US, without really considering the effects it may have on Mexico or Canada. Overall though, the wall (in my opinion) is a great waste of resources and energy. Furthermore, what I just can't fathom is how he expects Mexico to fund this entire project even though it would do them no good what-so-ever. Nonetheless, because his tweets are so baseless, I really don't think that anything will truly come from it since Congress will definitely not be on board with the idea of spending money to build a wall at the border.
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that Trump bashed NAFTA for being "the worst trade deal ever" just to go through all of the effort to create USMCA, which to him is the "greatest trade deal ever" when both of the trade deals are fairly similar. All Trump did was make some minor revisions that favored more manufacturing taking place in America, but it was nothing dramatic. I think that Trump's car manufacturing change was actually a good idea, because it would require that 40% of a car is produced by people working at car plants who make $16 an hour which will help raise the standard of living in Mexico. If it doesn't happen in Mexico then it will bring more car manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and be helpful to improving the middle class here. I do think that Trump is over-glorifying his trade deal but I recognize that there are some positives. As for the wall, I'm not really sure that economic gains made from his new treaty will be able to cover the expenses of the wall and I wouldn't be surprised if it's a baseless claim. I think that there are benefits to USMCA, but I would like to see hard facts that show where the money for this wall are coming from. I personally don't believe in this new wall and honestly believe that the funds that could go toward it could be better spent initiating new visa programs and refugee programs that promote legal immigration. If we're willing to take more lower class citizens from countries south of the border who are willing to work hard to create a better life, we will have less of an illegal immigration problem.
ReplyDeleteLike Daniel stated before, building a wall along the US-Mexico isn't exactly all that unrealistic. However, forcing Mexico to pay for it is unreasonable. It was never Mexico's idea to build the wall, but rather Trump's idea to do so. Moreover, the US-Mexico border is nearly 2000 miles long. A wall spanning that distance (considering it being capable of preventing immigrants from crossing it) is going to cost a lot. If Mexico is going to pay for the wall, they are going to spend and lose a lot of money, and, as Marc also mentioned, ultimately affect both its economy as well as the US's economy as well. Thus, building the wall and having Mexico pay for it is all but fantastical.
ReplyDelete