WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump announced that he would levy a 25% tariff on all Mexican goods as a response to the country’s failure to assist in controlling immigration into the United States, assuming he wins in the upcoming election on Tuesday.

During a rally in Raleigh, N.C. on Monday, Trump stated, “I will notify her (Mexico’s president) on the very first day or even sooner that if they do not halt this flood of illegal immigrants and drugs into our country, a tariff of 25 percent will be imposed on every item they send to the United States.”

Trump believes that the strategy has a “100% chance of working,” asserting that if a 25% tariff is ineffective, he will escalate it to 50% and ultimately 75%.

He has outlined a range of tariff proposals aimed at all U.S. imports. Notable suggestions include a 60% tariff on goods from China, a 10% tariff on products from various other nations, and a 100% tariff on all vehicles produced in Mexico.

Though these policies aim to promote U.S. manufacturing, economists warn that such measures could lead to higher prices for American consumers and slow economic growth due to possible retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products.

Trump has also suggested replacing the federal income tax with tariffs. However, according to the Peterson Institute of International Economics, a center-right think tank, “It is fundamentally unfeasible for tariffs to completely substitute for income taxes,” given that imported goods generate only about $3.1 trillion annually, while total U.S. incomes reach $20 trillion. Transitioning to reliance on tariffs would transfer the tax burden away from affluent individuals, who currently pay higher income taxes, toward lower-income families that allocate a larger portion of their income to consumption.

Trump referenced his tariff-and-tax swap as a return to the policies of former President William McKinley from the late 1890s. Some economists attribute significant tariff increases during McKinley’s term to a government deficit that contributed to an economic downturn several years later in 1893.