Obstacles to the US-Mexico border wall decree

President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border is said to face many difficulties, from financial issues to terrain.

The wall along the US-Mexico border cannot be built with just one decree that US President Donald Trump signed on January 25. He will need Congress to approve $20 billion, and perhaps even more, to complete this massive project, according to the Washington Post.

"He must have money. And moreover, he must have the permission of the National Assembly,"Rand Beers, a former Department of Homeland Security official in the Obama administration, said.

While the Republican majority in the US Congress has affirmed that it will fund the construction of the wall.Administration officials said they are still discussing specific funding options with Republican lawmakers.

In a 2015 interview with the Washington Post, Mr. Trump said the wall “can be done for very little cost.”

But border security experts say the project is a huge and difficult undertaking. In addition to the costs, it will face technical and environmental issues such as having to contend with ranchers and others who don't want to give up their land in the border region, as well asterrain problem

Mr Trump’s wall would be forced to run through remote deserts in Arizona and rugged mountains in New Mexico. Moreover, two-thirds of the wall’s length would run along rivers.

Reaction from Mexico and US politicians

The border fence divides the Nogales area, with the right side belonging to Mexico and the left side belonging to Arizona, US. Photo: CNN

Relations between the United States and Mexico are likely to fall into crisis immediately after President Trump signed an executive order to build the wall.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto responded to Trump's move by canceling a visit to the United States, whileThe White House has proposed imposing a 20% tariff on goods imported from the neighboring country to fund the construction of a wall along the border.

However, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said that raising taxes would shift the cost of building the wall to American consumers.

"Raising tariffs on imports into the United States is not a way for Mexico to pay for the wall, but a way to make North American consumers pay more for washing machines, TVs, etc.," he said.Videotold reporters.

In addition, the increased tariffs would have a negative impact on Mexico, whose economy has become deeply tied to the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994.

Mexico is the US's third-largest trading partner, after Canada and China, with $531 billion in trade in 2015. Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo warned that a new tariff would have worldwide repercussions and could trigger a global recession.

According to commentator Jerry Markon, Mr. Trump's decision also sparked domestic protests.

“Any effort to restrict or impose new barriers to trade with Mexico and Canada could jeopardize the future of this trade agreement and have serious consequences for Arizona and the country,”Senator John McCain commented.

"I think if Trump acts in this way, the Mexicans will definitely retaliate. We are in very dangerous territory.It would create a big problem for Mexico, and also in the United States," the expert said.Daniel Ikenson of the Cato Institute assessed.

According to VNE