Trump says U.S. and Mexico reach last-minute deal to avoid tariffs - CBS News

President Trump tweeted late Friday that a deal had been signed with Mexico to avoid tariffs that were set to start Monday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo more formally announced the agreement shortly thereafter. 

The announcement avoids what economists and Republicans feared would be damaging to the U.S. economy. According to Mexico's foreign minister, the agreement calls for Mexico to deploy its national guard throughout the country, as well as allow migrants to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are adjudicated. The agreement also calls for Mexico to offer jobs, health care and education. 

"I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico," the president tweeted Friday night. "The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended. Mexico, in turn, has agreed to take strong measures to...stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border. This is being done to greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States. Details of the agreement will be released shortly by the State Department. Thank you!"

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Pompeo followed the president's tweet with a statement. 

"We would like to thank Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard for his hard work to negotiate a set of joint obligations that benefit both the United States and Mexico," Pompeo said. "The United States looks forward to working alongside Mexico to fulfill these commitments so that we can stem the tide of illegal migration across our southern border and to make our border strong and secure."

The agreement leaves open the possibility that the deal could be altered if progress is not considered sufficient. "Both parties also agree that, in the event the measures adopted do not have the expected results, they will take further actions," the agreement says.

Under the agreement, the U.S. will also "immediately" expand its Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the remain-in-Mexico policy, which was started at the end of January. Individuals who are trying to come to the U.S. to seek asylum are to be returned to Mexico to wait for their asylum claims to be heard in court. Mexico says that it will offer jobs, healthcare and education to the asylum-seekers.

Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard speaks to reporters after a meeting between U.S. and Mexican officials on immigration and trade at the State Department in Washington on June 6, 2019. LEAH MILLIS / REUTERS

In a series of tweets Saturday morning, Mr. Trump continued to defend his last-minute decision not to implement tariffs, blaming the media for perceived negative reporting.

"While the reviews and reporting on our Border Immigration Agreement with Mexico have been very good, there has nevertheless been much false reporting (surprise!) by the Fake and Corrupt News Media, such as Comcast/NBC, CNN, @nytimes & @washingtonpost. These "Fakers" are Bad News!" Mr. Trump claimed without evidence.

He also wrote, in all capitalization, that "MEXICO HAS AGREED TO IMMEDIATELY BEGIN BUYING LARGE QUANTITIES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT FROM OUR GREAT PATRIOT FARMERS!"

MEXICO HAS AGREED TO IMMEDIATELY BEGIN BUYING LARGE QUANTITIES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT FROM OUR GREAT PATRIOT FARMERS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2019

Mr. Trump had faced some strong criticism from Republicans who represent states with large farming populations, such as Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa. Ernst said in a statement Friday night that "Iowans are breathing a sigh of relief" now that the tariffs were not going into effect. It was unclear whether there were enough votes to block the tariffs from going into effect in Congress.

A tariff deal also had not seemed certain. The White House did not publicly identify what targets Mexico needed to meet, and said Mexico wasn't offering enough to curb illegal immigration. Top White House officials had insisted the tariffs were imminent if Mexico didn't drastically crack down on the flow of migrants. 

Mr. Trump appeared to muddy the waters even more Friday afternoon while tweeting from Air Force One that Mexico would buy more agricultural products from the U.S. — even though the White House insisted the proposed tariffs were about immigration, not trade. 

"If we are able to make the deal with Mexico, & there is a good chance that we will, they will begin purchasing Farm & Agricultural products at very high levels, starting immediately," Mr. Trump tweeted. "If we are unable to make the deal, Mexico will begin paying Tariffs at the 5% level on Monday!"

For months, Mr. Trump has vocalized his frustration over illegal immigration levels and sought ways to stem the tide of migrants, as he attempts to keep his campaign promise to build a border wall and handle illegal immigration more effectively than his predecessors. But those attempts have been fraught with hurdles, both legal and political, with the 2020 presidential election just around the corner.

On Friday night, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer mockingly tweeted it was a "historic night" and "Now that that problem is solved, I'm sure we won't be hearing any more about it in the future."

In December, Mr. Trump's insistence on border wall funding led to the longest government shutdown on record, but the president ultimately gave in when the impacts of the shutdown became visible. 

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2019-06-08 12:11:00Z
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Trump is playing a risky game by weaponizing US economic power with tariffs - CNBC

The effectiveness of President Donald Trump's unprecedented weaponization of tariffs in addressing non-trade issues is facing its most significant tests yet in Mexico and China.

In the case of Mexico, he had threatened new 5% tariffs on Mexican goods – which were to be imposed as early as Monday. The aim was to force the Mexican government to stem the flood of undocumented migrants across U.S. borders.

The United States and Mexico reached a deal Friday night in which Trump dropped the tariff threat in return for Mexico's commitment to increased immigration enforcement.

In the case of China, Beijing officials have grown convinced that the Trump administration's aim is – at the very least – to alter the way the autocratic capitalist regime does business. At the very most, they believe Trump officials would like to slow or stop China's rise and perhaps change the regime itself.

A draft trade agreement, which U.S. officials say the Chinese initially accepted before rejecting, appears to have included a Chinese commitment to change its laws to rein in illegal tech transfers, intellectual property theft and anti-competitive state subsidies.

No one disputes, least of all Mexican officials themselves, that Mexico should do more to help the United States address the migrant problem. Last month, U.S. officials apprehended or refused entry to more than 144,000 people who crossed the southern border illegally, the most in a single month in some five years. That number has grown consistently since January, fueled by the fear of even tougher restrictions to come and a desire to get in the door before it shuts.

Top Mexican officials flew to Washington this past week on an emergency mission to broker a deal to head off he tariffs. Ahead of the weekend, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebard confirmed reports that Mexico would send 6,000 of its national guard troops to its southern border – the sort of physical showing designed to appeal to Trump. Mexico also has offered changes, U.S. officials have said, to its asylum rules that would require Central American migrants to seek asylum in the first foreign country they enter – namely Mexico

No one disputes either how positive it would be if Trump could coax the Chinese to mend their unfair trading ways, an effort that has broad global support and bipartisan political support at home. Yet Chinese officials say they drew the line, and they unusually leaked details of the talks to support their argument, when the U.S. side went beyond economic goals toward demands that Beijing rewrite its laws to alter its state-controlled system.

However commendable even the Trump administration's most ardent supporters might find the president's goals in Mexico and China, the unfortunate truth is that tariffs are insufficient at best and counterproductive at worst in achieving non-trade outcomes.

Ultimately, Mexico achieved a stand-down from the higher tariffs . The deal, however, won't address the underlying problem.

The Atlantic Council's Tony Wayne, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, argued this week: "Central American governments' inability to provide for the basic needs and safety of many of their citizens, fueling the migration, has deep-rooted causes that will take years to solve."

The U.S. recently cut aid to Central America, despite its growing needs, inadvertently fueling even more incentive to migrate. And though Mexico and the United States have agreed in principle to promoting economic development in southern Mexico and Central America, they haven't delivered anything concrete.

Whatever Mexican officials may promise the Trump administration, it's unclear they would have the capacity to deliver. "Mexico's immigration and refugee agencies are severely understaffed, under-resourced and overwhelmed by the increased numbers of Central Americans heading north," Wayne said.

The difficulty is even greater in addressing the multi-dimensional China challenge through escalating tariffs, even when one adds to that other economic tools such as the recent ban on Huawei selling its 5G products in the United States.

The combination of the tough line U.S. officials took in trade talks and the escalating confrontation over Huawei has prompted a more nationalist and assertive response by the Chinese government, reflected in President Xi Jinping's visit to Russia this week to meet with Vladimir Putin, previewed last week in this space.

Xi and Putin left little doubt that their growing closeness is in no small part motivated as a coalition against the United States. It was also telling that among the 30 deals and agreements signed by the two leaders was an accord for Huawei to develop a 5G network in Russia together with Russia's MTS telecoms company.

There's little doubt the U.S. moves against Beijing will slow Chinese growth and complicate Huawei's ability to expand its impressive hold on global telecom and emerging 5G markets.

Yet tariffs and tech sanctions can achieve little of lasting value without an accompanying set of talks and how the two powers together can manage the global future with a set of agreed rules that will allow them to be both strategic collaborators and competitors.

Trump's tariff struggles with Mexico and China are only part of what the Economist on its cover this weekend called in a blazing headline, "Weapons of Mass Disruption," printed beside a compelling illustration of a bomb tipped with Trump's face heading earthward with these words stenciled on its side: "TARIFFS, TECH BLACKLISTS, FINANCIAL ISOLATION, SANCTIONS."

Though tariffs on Mexico and China lead the news now, the U.S. this week also cancelled preferential trading rules for India, it continues to use sanctions in efforts to tame and punish Iran and Russia, it wields them in its effort to denuclearize North Korea and it deploys sanctions, working alongside some 50 other democracies, to replace Venezuela's dictator with democracy.

U.S. economic weapons are the most potent in the world, and 88% of world trade is still done in dollars, although the U.S. share of global GDP has shrunk from nearly half after World War II to 38% in 1969 to about 24% now. That remains the case because for many years a good part of the world viewed this arrangement positively.

It remains to be seen – in Mexico, China and beyond – how much Trump will gain through his unique willingness to use economic weapons.

What's clear already is that friends and rivals are more interested than ever before in exploring alternatives to the U.S.-dominated system. Such a transition would take many years, involve enormous costs and unfold in stages. However, consistent overuse of U.S. economic power has made the unthinkable more plausible.

Frederick Kempe is a best-selling author, prize-winning journalist and president & CEO of the Atlantic Council, one of the United States' most influential think tanks on global affairs. He worked at The Wall Street Journal for more than 25 years as a foreign correspondent, assistant managing editor and as the longest-serving editor of the paper's European edition. His latest book – "Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth" – was a New York Times best-seller and has been published in more than a dozen languages. Follow him on Twitter and subscribe here to Inflection Points, his look each Saturday at the past week's top stories and trends.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.

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2019-06-08 11:01:22Z
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5th suspect arrested in attack on lesbian couple for refusing to kiss - New York Post

LONDON — Police in London have arrested a fifth suspect on suspicion of punching two women on a bus because they are lesbians.

Authorities didn’t identify the victims in the May 30 attack. But Melania Geymonat posted an image on her Facebook page showing her bloodied face and that of her girlfriend’s.

Geymonat said in the post that they were on the upper deck of the bus when a gang of “hooligans” demanded that they kiss. The women tried to reason with them, but the incident escalated.

Police said Saturday all of suspects are between 15 and 18 years old.

Detective Superintendent Andy Cox says that while attacks like this are rare on London buses, extra uniformed and plain clothes officers will be out on patrol this weekend to offer reassurance.

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2019-06-08 10:27:00Z
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Trump Gets Mexico Deal — and Once Again Backs Away From Tariffs - Bloomberg

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1. Trump Gets Mexico Deal — and Once Again Backs Away From Tariffs  Bloomberg
2. US makes deal with Mexico on tariffs, immigration, Trump announces  Fox News
3. Trump: Tariffs on Mexican imports indefinitely suspended  CNN
4. Mexico tariffs might energize Trump voters for 2020, but they won't reduce immigration  USA TODAY
5. Trump tariffs: Your tax cut is now almost entirely wiped out by tariffs  CBS News
6. View full coverage on Google News

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-08/trump-gets-mexico-deal-and-once-again-backs-away-from-tariffs

2019-06-08 08:00:00Z
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London bus attack: Fifth arrest after gay couple who refused to kiss beaten - BBC News

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A boy aged 16 has been arrested over a homophobic attack which left two women covered in blood after refusing to kiss on a bus.

Melania Geymonat, 28, said the attack on her and partner Chris happened on the top deck of a London night bus.

A group of young men began harassing them when they discovered the women were a couple, asking them to kiss while making sexual gestures.

Four other males aged between 15 and 18 remain in custody, the Met said.

They are being questioned on suspicion of robbery and aggravated grievous bodily harm.

Speaking about the attack, which happened in the early hours of 30 May, Ms Geymonat told BBC Radio 4's World at One she had previously experienced "a lot of verbal violence".

But she said she had never before been physically attacked because of her sexuality.

Asked whether the attack left her less willing to show affection in public, Chris, who lives in north London but is originally from the US, said: "I am not scared about being visibly queer.

"If anything, you should do it more."

Ms Geymonat, who is a doctor but currently works for Ryanair as a stewardess, said she agreed.

Chris said: "I was and still am angry. It was scary, but this is not a novel situation."

Over the five years to 2018, reported homophobic hate crimes across London have increased from 1,488 in 2014 to 2,308 in 2018, according to the Met Police's crime dashboard.

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2019-06-08 09:48:18Z
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'Unprecedented level' of China-Russia cooperation threatens US dominance - CNN

Russia and China have each sought to expand their global reach by challenging American military dominance in the air and at sea. But while both countries are have been getting bolder, evidence suggests they have done so independently.

As near-peer rivals to the US, both Russia and China are often aligned in many of their geopolitical views but Friday's incident was unusual because of where it took place.

While the US and Russia have offered different accounts of Friday's incident, all indications suggest it took place in waters off the coast of China.

That is uncommon, according to Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.

"The Russians normally harass our ships when they are operating in waters the Russian consider to be within their sphere of Influence (Black Sea, Barents Sea and the waters off Vladivostok)," said Schuster, who spent 12 years at sea on US warships.

Friday's encounter took place two days later Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin met at the Kremlin as the two countries are claiming relations are at their "best level in history."

"It seems as if they're working in concert with the Chinese. They're looking at the kinds of things that they can, that they can do in concert with the Chinese to challenge the US. And if it means helping the Chinese out in the Pacific, they will do so," according to retired Air Force Col. and CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton.

"By the same token, they expect the Chinese to help them out in other areas, perhaps in central Asia. So that's where we can see other flashpoints between the US and, on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other," he said.

Russia-China relations at an 'unprecedented level'

In addition to asserting that Russia's relationship with China has reached an "unprecedented level," Putin highlighted their shared views on many geopolitical issues, noting the two countries see eye to eye on several geopolitical challenges, including tensions on the Korean Peninsula, in Venezuela and the conflict in Syria.

Xi called the Russian President "a friend," and reiterated Putin's view, saying that "our cooperation is based on mutual trust."

Since 2013, the two leaders have met almost 30 times, according to Chinese state media. Their last bilateral was at the second Belt and Road Summit held in Beijing in April.

While China and Russia maintain strong ties when it comes to trade, both sides have recently indicated they may be open to working together toward achieving another shared strategic goal -- pushing back against US influence.

Russia has consistently demonstrated a willingness to push the boundaries of international law when it comes to asserting more control over the Baltic Sea and testing US commitments to regional allies like Ukraine, particularly since its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Last year, Russia captured 24 Ukrainian sailors after aggressively ramming their ship in the Kerch Strait. Those sailors remain in custody despite repeated calls by the US for their release.

There are also recent indications that Moscow is intent on growing its influence globally -- a push that will likely only escalate tensions with the US.

Russia expanding influence in Pacific

As part of that effort, Russia has been expanding its presence in the Pacific region amid growing tensions in the disputed South China Sea -- an issue that is particularly important to China.

Beijing claims almost the entire 1.3 million square mile region as its sovereign territory and aggressively asserts its stake, with Xi saying it will never give up "any inch of territory."

But China is just one of several countries who lay claim to parts of the South China Sea along with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

US military officials, meanwhile, have vowed to continue enforcing a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said last month that the Indo-Pacific region was the US's most important theater from a security perspective. While he did not mention China by name last month during a speech in Singapore, he levied thinly failed criticism toward Beijing for using what he called a "toolkit of coercion."

That toolkit included island-building, deploying advanced weapons systems to disputed areas, engaging in predatory economics and the alleged state-sponsored theft of military and civilian technology -- all activities the US has previously accused China of undertaking.

While the US and China have sparred over the South China Sea for years, Russia has been strengthening ties with countries in the region.

Though Russian warships have become an increasingly common sight in the Indo-Pacific region, they have typically avoided serious confrontations with US forces when operating far from home, making the nature of Friday's incident somewhat out of character for a country that has typically prioritized coastal defense.

Taking the relationship to the next level?

By overtly challenging a US ship in the Philippine Sea, Putin may have been signaling to Xi that he is ready to take their relationship to the next level, according to retired rear admiral and CNN military analyst John Kirby.

"Clearly this sends a strong message to President Xi, from Putin's perspective, that we are on your team," Kirby told CNN's Jim Sciutto.

"We have seen the Russians and Chinese cooperate increasingly ... when it suits their interests," he said, adding that the two countries participated in a major military exercise together just last year.

Top US military officials were quick to condemn the Russian sailors for behavior they characterized as reckless and irresponsible -- a forceful response indicating the incident posed a serious risk to the safety of American sailors.

However it remains to be seen what additional steps the US government will take in response to the incident and whether this type of encounter indicates a broader shift in Russia's relationship with China.

What does seem clear, however, is that Russia is continuing to ramp up its aggressiveness when it comes to confronting US military forces.

"Putin clearly has ordered the Russian Navy to pressure the USN whenever opportunities exist. It may possibly be a show of political support for China while Xi is in Moscow, but more likely to signal that Russia is willing to challenge the US dominance on the world stage and at sea," Schuster said.

"You saw actions in Syria, you saw actions in the eastern Mediterranean, in the Baltic, in the Black Sea, and now in the Pacific. You're seeing them really challenging the United states wherever they can so that they can actually not only assert their dominance in a particular region, but also kind of pave the way to judge and gauge our intentions and more importantly our responses," Leighton added.

CNN's Barbara Starr contributed reporting

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2019-06-08 06:41:00Z
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Police Arrest 4 Teens Over Homophobic Attack on London Bus - Snopes.com

LONDON (AP) — Police have arrested four teenagers on suspicion of attacking two women on a London bus because they were lesbians.

Authorities didn’t identify the victims in the attack, which took place at about 2:30 a.m. on May 30. But Melania Geymonat posted an image on her Facebook page showing her bloodied face and that of her girlfriend’s.

Geymonat said in the post that they were on the upper deck of the bus when a gang of “hooligans” threw coins at them and demanded that they kiss. The couple were punched and robbed before the attackers escaped.

Police said both women were taken to the hospital with facial injuries.

Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn both condemned the attack.

“They started beating me, I was bleeding all over – I was really bleeding”

Melania Geymonat tells @BBCMarkMardell on #BBCwato about how she and her girlfriend were attacked after a group of men demanded they kiss. pic.twitter.com/E3kRVLxQtA

— The World at One (@BBCWorldatOne) June 7, 2019

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2019-06-07 21:59:19Z
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