LO brings up a new 'old' idea
Let me say this about President Andrés López-Obrador of Mexico: he is creative and not following the left-wing script. He wants to create a tax-free zone on the border, something that no leftist in Mexico ever mentioned before.
In a bid to reduce migration to the U.S. and attract investment, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has proposed the creation of economic "free zones" along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Tax Incentive Decree for the Northern Border Region, which Lopez Obrador announced Saturday, would create a free zone that would stretch from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Coast and be more than 15 miles wide, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Inside the zone, income taxes would be reduced by a third and Value Added Taxes on imported goods would be slashed in half, the minimum wage would increase 100 percent, and fuel prices would equal U.S. prices, the report said.
"It's going to be the biggest free zone in the world," Lopez Obrador said.
"It is very important to project for winning investment, creating jobs and taking advantage of the economic strength of the United States."
Again, this is not a new idea. I've heard it from many Mexicans who don't understand why people are coming over here to do what they could be doing in Mexico.
As a Mexican friend asked years ago, why send people up there to work? Why not bring the jobs down here? At least the employer and employee would be paying taxes in Mexico. The plant would pay property taxes and buy basic supplies down there.
President López-Obrador gets it when it comes to Mexicans migrating to the U.S. In other words, he understands that Mexico benefits from "remittances" but loses in the long run because the jobs are in the U.S.
So create a "tax incentive zone" and make it more profitable for U.S. companies to hire these people in Mexico rather than in Texas?
It's always made sense to me and will reduce the illegal immigration flow. It won't end it all, but a big chunk of it will vanish.
Last, but not least, it shows me that President López-Obrador and President Trump are communicating a lot better than most expected. I wonder when the Mexican left turns on LO for being a puppet of Trump.
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