Trump Plans To Pay For The Border Wall With A 20% Tax On Mexico's Imports

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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday revealed that the Trump administration will impose a 20% tax on all imports from Mexico as a way to pay for the southern border wall.

Spicer didn’t give any additional details, according to a White House pool report, but said it was the beginning of a process that would be part of overall tax reform. His comments are the first word from the new administration on just how Trump was going to get Mexico, which has repeatedly said they would not pay for the wall, to pony up.

“By doing it that we can do $10 billion a year and easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone. That’s really going to provide the funding,” Spicer said. “It clearly provides the funding and does so in a way that the American taxpayer is wholly respected.”

Mexico was the second largest supplier to agricultural imports to the US, totaling $21 billion in 2015, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The top categories were fresh vegetables, fruit, and wine and beer.

It was also the United States’ third largest supplier of goods imports in 2015.

Spicer said right now the US' policy is to tax exports and let imports flow freely in.

“We are probably the only major country that doesn’t treat imports this way,” Spicer said. “This gets us in line frankly with the policies that the other countries around the world treat our products.”

Spicer said the tax plan was something the administration had been in close contact with members of Congress.

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