Tariffs on Mexico: President Lopez Obrador speaks at rally hailing tariffs deal

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03:19

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador praised his government's negotiating efforts at a rally on Saturday. He said his country has avoided a full-on economic crisis by convincing the Trump administration not to impose tariffs on Mexican products. CGTN's Franc Contreras reports from the border city of Tijuana.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador held an unprecedented public gathering Saturday in this border city just across from the United States.

He recapped the 170 year of history of U.S. Mexico relations – beginning with the 1840s when the two North American neighbors were wartime adversaries. Then Lopez Obrador explained how his government avoided an economic crisis.

ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR MEXICAN PRESIDENT "On Monday, there will be no tariffs, there will be no taxes and there will be no economic or financial crisis in our country."

Mexico's negotiating team, headed by Foreign Relations Minister Marcelo Ebrard, promised Mexico will use a newly created National Guard to patrol Mexico's southern border in an effort to prevent would-be Central American migrants from entering Mexico.

Mexico also promised to receive thousands of asylum-seeking immigrants expelled from the U.S. Under the agreement, Mexico promised to find them jobs and pay for their education and healthcare.

Lopez Obrador reiterated that the mounting humanitarian crisis will end when the United States and Mexico go after the root causes of the problem.

ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR MEXICAN PRESIDENT "We have stated that we can resolve the migration phenomenon by attacking the deep causes of the problem – by furthering development and by building well-being and peace."

U.S. President Trump hinged his threats to impose progressive tariffs on all Mexican products on Mexico's efforts to curb immigration from Central America. That threat caught Mexico's attention.

FRANC CONTRERAS OTAY MESA, MEXICO "Each year billions of dollars of merchandise pass through this international boundary. The top item has been vehicles produced and assembled in Mexico and exported to the United States."

As Trump continues to convince his supporters that the United States is facing a massive immigration crisis, long-time immigration observers say he's doing it with the 2020 election in mind.

CARLOS HEREDIA EXPERT ON US-MEXICO RELATIONS "The number of migrants or people who seek asylum at the US-Mexico border has grown significantly over the last few months, but still has not match what we have seen many years ago."

Mexican government statistics indicate that more than 500 thousand immigrants crossed into the country from Central American in the first half of 2019. That may not be a record number, but it's enough to raise concerns. FC, CGTN, Tijuana, Mexico.