Staff Reports
Congressman Charlie Crist is blasting a proposal by President Donald Trump to pay for a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border with a 20 percent tax on goods imported from Mexico.
Many expect the tariff to be part of a comprehensive tax reform package hammered out between Congress and the White House. Despite much fanfare on the announcement, several questions remain about Trump’s plan. White House officials clarified Trump’s words by saying the import tax will be only one of several options that could be used to finance the wall.
Crist, representing Florida’s 13th Congressional District, said a 20 percent tariff on Mexican goods would only result in American consumers paying more for goods from south of the border.
“The merits of building a contiguous physical wall along our southern border are highly questionable – questioned by elected officials on both sides of the aisle. But what’s even more concerning is the idea that it could be paid for by taxing imports from Mexico by an additional 20 percent,” the St. Petersburg Democrat said in a statement. “That’s essentially asking the American people and American businesses to pay for the wall, through higher costs on the products we import from Mexico every day, from clothes to cars. I hope the administration abandons this misguided proposal.”
