Why Is Trump Upset with Mexico?

Mexico is one of two closest neighbors of the United States with the other country being Canada. The border between the United States and Mexico is 1,954 miles long, plus 18 miles into the Pacific Ocean and 12 miles into the Gulf of America.

Normally, the United States holds a position of “big brother” to Mexico, one who does many things to help and protect the “little sister.” However, President Donald Trump is saying “no more.” He wants Mexico to step up and carry more responsibility.

Victor Davis Hanson spoke about the situation between Mexico and the United States, which was published in The Daily Signal. He shared the following ideas. 

President Donald Trump has threatened all sorts of trade sanctions on Mexico, a 25% tariff. But why is he doing this? And I think the answer is there’s four things that Mexico knows it has been doing to us with impunity, especially under Joe Biden, that are not sustainable.

The first, it used to run under NAFTA $10-$20 billion trade surplus. Then it went to $40 billion, then it went to $50 billion. And then, during Donald Trump’s first term, we renegotiated it. It kind of stayed static. Now it’s over $175 billion.

But get this, it’s mostly due to China evading tariffs on China by sending raw product materials to Mexico – computers, phones, appliances to be assembled by Mexicans, and then sent under free trade agreements with us, to the benefit of Mexico and China.

But $175 billion – that is the second-largest trade surplus of any country. It’s getting close to China itself.

[Second] is that we had this open border. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the former Mexican president, said it was a beautiful thing that 40 million people – Mexicans – had come in illegally to the United States. Twelve million or more came in during Joe Biden’s tenure. That was all done with the contrivance of Mexico.

Remember, Mexico looked at that open border as a win-win-win-win situation, No. 1. And Frederick Jackson Turner’s theory of the safety valve – they thought that when people were dissatisfied and underserved in Mexico, especially southern Mexicans, who were indigenous and subject to a great deal of hostility and prejudice by Mexico City, they would go to El Norte rather than march on Mexico City. And they did.

No. 2, they felt that they would form an expatriate community. And that expatriate community, which, as Mr. Obrador clams, is 40 million people – I don’t know if it’s quite that large – but they’re a powerful force for the Mexican government’s point of view within the United States. There are 50 consulates that Mexico puts in the United States to develop that chauvinism and that pro-Mexican attitude among Americans, residents, and citizens.

No. 3, the remittances. Sixty-three billion dollars come to Mexico and that money comes largely from illegal aliens. But more importantly, it comes from people receiving state, local, and federal subsidies. So, you, the taxpayer – in terms of health subsidies, education subsidies, housing, food subsidies – are freeing up cash to send $63 billion back to Mexico.

[No. 4] There’s another problem, and that is the cartels. They welcome in, with the connivance or neglect … of the Mexican government, Mexican fentanyl product shipped from China…. And the result is 60,000 to 100,000 Americans are dying every year because of the cartels….

Add it all up … you’re looking at almost $260 billion of American cash that’s going to Mexico. And they all have that one thing in common, they all share a degree of illegality.

They are breaking trade agreements by reassembling Chinese products and running up a huge surplus. They are breaking immigration laws by exporting people here and then sending back cash -- $63 billion worth in remittances. And they are breaking drug laws and immigration laws through the cartels….

I want to add one thing. Mexico thinks that we’re not serious, but they should look at the recent Pew international poll. For the first time, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Mexico. And if they think that having Mexican nationals shut down American freeways and wave the flag of the country under no circumstances which they are willing to return to while burning the flag under all circumstances they want to stay and that’s going to win back American public approval, it’s not.

According to Hanson, Trump has numerous reasons to be upset with Mexico and suggests that Mexico should work with Trump. However, only time will show how much force Trump needs to apply to get that help.