President Trump is considering a plan to tax imports from Mexico and using the money to build his promised border wall, the White House said Thursday.
Spokesman Sean Spicer said a 20 percent tax would amount to billions of dollars a year, which could “easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone.”
“That’s really going to provide the funding,” Mr. Spicer said.
The wall has become a major sticking point in relations between Mr. Trump and the Mexican government, with the two sides canceling a planned meeting next week. Mr. Trump and President Enrique Pena Nieto had been slated to huddle in Washington.
Mr. Pena Nieto said Wednesday that the new executive order Mr. Trump signed laying the groundwork for the wall was troubling, and he said he was thinking of nixing the meeting.
Mr. Trump responded that if Mexico wouldn’t talk about how to pay for the wall, the meeting didn’t make sense. Both men later said it was off.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump says cancelled meet with Mexico president was mutual decision
Mr. Trump said during the campaign that Mexico would foot the bill for the wall, and he even put out a policy paper laying out options.
Under the latest plans, the federal government will fund the construction, but money is to be siphoned from Mexico to recover the money over time.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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