Some business groups in the United States are considering filing a lawsuit against the White House after the announcement late Thursday of new tariffs on imports from Mexico starting on June 10, aimed at forcing the country to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants.
John Murphy, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s senior vice president of international affairs, said the Chamber is looking into legal actions it could take to push back against the new policy.
Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the Chamber, called the tariff “exactly the wrong move.”
He says it will be paid by American families and businesses without doing anything to remedy problems at the border.
Bradley called on Congress and the president to work together to address the problem.
Business groups told CNBC that suing the Trump Administration is a possibility, but a decision is not likely to come until Monday.
Tariffs have been a major opposition point between businesses and the current White House, but a lawsuit would be considered a major escalation of the argument.
President Donald Trump shocked the world late Thursday night when he announced that a new tariff of 5% would be applied to all Mexican imports starting on June 10. These tariffs will increase by 5% on the first of every month to a maximum of 25%. The Trump administration is using these tariffs as an incentive for Mexico to crack down on its illegal immigration issues causing havoc at the southern U.S. border.
….at which time the Tariffs will be removed. Details from the White House to follow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2019
The news sent the stock market spiraling downward as all major indexes had fallen by at least from 1.2% (S&P and Dow) to 1.4% (Nasdaq) about an hour before the closing bell Friday.
The tariff announcement could also throw a wrench into trade negotiations between the U.S., Mexico and Canada who, just last week, announced good progress was being made on a deal that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement after the U.S. lifted tariffs on steel and other metals for the two neighboring allies. The Trump administration even notified Congress on Thursday that a bill was on the way.
The new tariffs are another obstacle for the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to Murphy.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.