The Mexican House of Representatives has unanimously passed a resolution denouncing U.S. states that impose remittance taxes, or are currently considering such legislation, and calling upon the Mexican government to take trade measures against those states. Such trade measures would be imposed in states like Oklahoma and Kansas as a way to respond and retaliate against this category of tax laws.
Mexican Legislators consider recently passed legislation in Oklahoma to be an “immoral, abusive and harmful” act against immigrantsô rights, according to the resolution sponsored by Congressman Ildefonso Guajardo (PRI-Nuevo Leon). The full text of the resolution, translated from Spanish, appears below.
Mexico is the number-one international trade partner of both Oklahoma and Kansas, the foreign market where they export the majority of products and services.
The text of the resolution, translated from Spanish by Congressman Guajardo, is as follows:
MEXICAN CONGRESS URGES MEXICAN GOVERNMENT
TO RESPOND AND RETALIATE AGAINST THE IMMORAL, ABUSIVE AND
HARMFUL REMITTANCE FEE VIOLATING THE RIGHTS OF
IMMIGRANTS IN OKLAHOMA
The Mexican House of Representatives has called upon the Mexican Government to establish trade measures against U.S. states that have adopted a fee to remittances being sent to Mexico. Such trade measures would be imposed in states like Oklahoma as a way to respond and retaliate against this new law. Mexican Legislators consider this bill as “immoral, abusive and harmful” act against immigrantsô rights.
With the vote of the seven political parties represented in Congress, the House of Representatives unanimously approved a Resolution introduced by the Chairman of the Economic Committee, Ildefonso Guajardo (PRI-Nuevo Leon), by which:
1. Congress demands the Mexican Government to present a formal complaint before the US Government on the imposition of this new fee in states such as Oklahoma.
2. Congress requests the Foreign Affairs Ministry to ask for the mediation of the Governor of Oklahoma to eliminate the fee.
3. Congress calls upon the Mexican Government to suspend all of its purchases of products originating in Oklahoma and those from other states currently legislating such law proposals like Kansas.
At the very end of the 2009 legislative session, a wire transmitter fee was amended into the “Drug Money Laundering and Wire Transmitter Act.” Effective July 1, 2009, registered money transmitters began collecting a 1% fee, minimum of $5.00, on all wire transfers initiated in Oklahoma. Banks and credit unions that offer similar wire transfer services are exempt from collecting this fee. Revenue collected from the wire transmitter fee is allocated to the “Drug Money Laundering and Wire Transmitter Revolving Fund”; an insulting measure linking immigration with drug trafficking.
The call to suspend any governmental purchase of Oklahoma products may affect the bilateral trade relationship between that state and Mexico which has a current value of above $1.1 billion dollars. Oklahoma exports to Mexico are worth $527 million dollars, mostly manufactures related to the oil industry, which in Mexico is basically owned by the state.
In addition, in prepared remarks, Congressman Guajardo mentioned that another state that could be subject to the same retaliatory actions is Kansas. The Committee Chair for the House Taxation Committee of Kansas, Republican Richard Carlson, has introduced recently a bill to impose a tax on money transfers. This bill would require money transmitters to collect $5.00 on each transmission and 2% of a transaction that exceeds $500.
