Trump says US, Mexico reach agreement on migration and tariffs ‘indefinitely suspended’

US President Donald Trump said late on Friday that Washington had reached an agreement with Mexico on migration, and that the punishing tariffs he had been threatening were “indefinitely suspended.”

“I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico. The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the US on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended,” he said on Twitter.

“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,” he added.

Trump’s announcement came at the end of three days of negotiations at the State Department, with Washington demanding a tough crackdown on Central American migrants and an agreement to accept their asylum petitions inside Mexico.

The US president had planned to hit all Mexican imports with a five percent tariff starting on Monday, and rising over the coming months to as high as 25 percent, a move which could have clobbered Mexico’s economy.

“There will be no application of tariffs by the US on Monday. Thanks to all the people who have supported us, showing Mexico’s greatness,” the country’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said in a tweet.