Donald Trump 20190605
Mexico has promised "unprecedented steps" to curb migration in US deal, according to a joint US-Mexico statement Image Credit: AP

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has suspended a plan to impose tariffs on Mexico, and said Mexico "has agreed to take strong measures" on migrants.

Trump announced late Friday that he had suspended plans to impose tariffs on Mexico, tweeting that the country "has agreed to take strong measures" to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States.

But the deal the two neighbours agreed to falls short of some of the dramatic overhauls the US had pushed for.

A "U.S.-Mexico Joint Declaration" released by the State Department said the US "will immediately expand the implementation" of a programme that returns asylum-seekers who cross the southern border to Mexico while their claims are adjudicated.

Mexico will "offer jobs, healthcare and education" to those people, the agreement stated.

The Mexican ambassador to the US said that under the US-Mexico migration deal, Mexico will strengthen application of its migration laws.

Mexico Foreign Minister said the deployment of National Guard on Mexico's southern border will begin on Monday.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting this weekend, said the US-Mexico deal "very, very significant".