Fighting to stave off punitive tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, a senior Mexican delegation was set to begin high-level talks on Monday in Washington, where it will be pushed to do more to hold back Central American migrants.
Trump says he will apply tariffs of 5 percent on all Mexican goods on June 10, and increase the rate in coming months to 25 percent if Mexico does not substantially halt illegal immigration across the US-Mexican border.
Global equities tumbled after Trump's unexpected threat last week against the US biggest trade partner, as investors feared his aggressive trade diplomacy could tip the US and other major economies into recession.
With just a week until the first tariffs bite, the delegation led by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard may have a hard time convincing US officials that Mexico is doing enough on immigration to avoid punishment, despite having signaled in recent days it was prepared to further tighten security.
The US-Mexican talks was set to begin on Monday with a meeting between Mexican Economy Secretary Graciela Marquez and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. On Wednesday, Ebrard meets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Trump on Sunday called Mexico an "abuser" of the US and said he wanted action, not talk. Mexico has signaled it would retaliate to the tariffs, with targets likely to include farm products on Trump-supporting states.
In a possible sign of US priorities in the talks Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan said on Sunday that Mexico should deploy more personnel to interdict illegal migrants along a 241.4-kilometer stretch of border with Guatemala.
That border is a remote region of mostly jungle and river, and has traditionally been hard to police. The causes of Central American immigration are mainly related to lack of economic opportunity and rampant violence.
McAleenan also said Mexico should bolster its own immigration screenings along its southern border, crack down on networks transporting migrants and enable more migrants to wait in Mexico while they apply for asylum in the US.
Since January the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has ramped up detentions and deportations, but that has not been enough to stop the growing tide of families reaching the US, mainly from Guatemala and Honduras.
