Peter Chis: Wall will be built, and Mexico will pay (even if indirectly)
President Trump has promised to build the wall and he’ll make Mexico pay for it. The Democrats called the idea crazy. President Trump understands something that Congressional Democrats don’t. In fact, President Trump has found a better way to make Mexico pay by making concessions in the North American Free Trade Agreement. In the process, that will help create thousands of jobs across America.
“They can pay for it indirectly, through NAFTA,” Trump said. “I’m going to take a small percentage of that money and it’s going toward the wall.”
Guess what? Mexico’s paying. And that’s not just smart, it’s brilliant. Under NAFTA, America has a $55 billion trade deficit with Mexico. The cost for the border wall? A projected $18 billion. So Trump only needs to renegotiate a one-third reduction in the trade deficit to effectively force Mexico to pay for the wall.
Talks on renegotiating NAFTA have already begun. And President Trump is aiming to show that he’s still Master of the Deal. And when he re-balances trade with Mexico, Trump will end up keeping two vital campaign promises. America will have a border wall and Mexico will pay for it. That’s genius.
Peter Chis, Modesto
This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Peter Chis: Wall will be built, and Mexico will pay (even if indirectly)."