Trump backs off threat to close border, capping a week of retreats

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump backed away from his threat to shut down the country's southern border, but vowed to impose additional tariffs on automobiles in a year - if Mexico doesn't do more to stop the flow of drugs and immigrants.

"We're going to give them a one-year warning, and if the drugs don't stop or largely stop, we're going to put tariffs on Mexico and products, particularly cars," Trump said Thursday. "The whole ballgame is cars." If that didn't work, he could still move to close the border, he added.

The new threat of auto tariffs, which leading Republicans quickly suggested was a nonstarter, came on the eve of Trump's visit to the California border. It capped a series of retreats over the last several