US President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday he intends to impose sweeping tariffs on goods coming from Mexico, Canada and China in response to the illegal drug trade and immigration.
In a series of posts on his Truth social account, Trump vowed to hit some of the United States’ biggest trading partners with sweeping tariffs on all goods entering the country.
He wrote, “On January 20, as one of my many first executive orders, I will sign all necessary documents to impose a 25 percent tariff on Mexico and Canada on all products coming into the United States and its ridiculously open borders.” I will.”
In another post, Trump said he would slap a 10 percent tariff on all of its products entering the U.S. “on top of any additional tariffs” over what he said was its failure to combat fentanyl trafficking.
Tariffs are a key part of Trump’s economic agenda, with the Republican president-elect vowing to impose sweeping duties on allies and opponents alike when he was on the campaign trail ahead of his November 5 victory.
Trump’s first term in the White House was marked by an aggressive and protectionist trade agenda that included deals with China, Mexico and Canada, as well as Europe.
While in the White House, Trump launched an all-out trade war with China, imposing significant tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods.
At the time he cited unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft and trade losses as justification.
China retaliated by imposing tariffs on American products, particularly affecting American farmers.
The US, Mexico and Canada are bound by a three-decade-old free trade agreement, now called USMCA, which was renegotiated under Trump as he complained that US businesses, particularly automakers, were losing out. .
“Mexico and Canada are heavily dependent on the US market, so their ability to shrug off President-elect Trump’s threats is limited,” Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former US trade official, told AFP.
“They will undoubtedly be challenged in US courts but it will take time to work through the legal process,” he said.
Trump was using national security concerns as a means to break the deal, citing the fentanyl crisis and illegal immigration, which is allowed under rules set by the World Trade Organization.
But most countries and the WTO do not regard national security exceptions as a regular tool of trade policy, but as something to be used sparingly.
In 2018 Trump cited national security justification for imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which targeted close allies such as Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
This led to retaliatory action from trading partners.
‘No reason to worry’
The European Union’s ambassador to the United States said Friday that Europe would be ready to respond in the event of a renewed confrontation with the United States over trade.
Shortly after Trump’s victory, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reassured her citizens that Trump’s return was “no cause for concern” despite dangerous trade threats.
Many economists have warned that tariffs will hurt growth and increase inflation, because they are paid primarily by importers bringing goods to the U.S., who often pass those costs on to consumers.
But Trump insiders have insisted that the tariffs are a useful bargaining chip for the US to induce its trading partners to agree to more favorable terms and bring manufacturing jobs back from overseas.
Trump has said he will put his nominee for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, who is pro-China, in charge of trade policy.
Lutnick has expressed support for a 60 percent tariff level on Chinese goods along with a 10 percent tariff on all other imports.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
