U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would impose 25% tariffs on imported goods from Canada and Mexico next week as he originally planned, contending the two neighboring countries are still not doing enough to curb the flow of drugs into the United States.
In addition, Trump said on his Truth Social media platform that he also was hitting China with another 10% levy next Tuesday on its exports to the U.S., on top of the 10% tariff he imposed earlier this month. China quickly matched the first Trump tariff with one of its own on U.S. exports.
“Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,” Trump said. “A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China.”
Trump first announced the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, two of the U.S.’s closest allies and trading partners, earlier this month.
But he delayed imposition of the tariffs until March 4 after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would send 10,000 troops to her country’s northern border to help the U.S. control drug trafficking. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would name a “fentanyl czar” to deal with the issue.
Sheinbaum, whose trade-dependent economy sends 80% of its exports to the U.S., said earlier this week, “We’re expecting to reach a deal with the United States,” but that if a deal is not reached, Mexico could impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made products.
When Trump first announced the hefty U.S. tariff on Canadian imports, Trudeau said it was “entirely unjustified” and promised to impose a 25% tax starting March 12 on U.S. steel and aluminum products exported to Canada. Canada is the top exporter of both metals to the U.S.
Economists say the tariffs Trump is imposing are likely to boost retail prices for consumers and the cost of materials for businesses. Mexico, Canada and China, in that order, are the three biggest national trading partners with the U.S., although collectively, the 27-nation European Union is larger than all three.
Trump, at the first Cabinet meeting of his new presidential term on Wednesday, said he would “very soon” announce a 25% tariff on EU exports to the U.S.
With Trump signaling the new tariff on goods sent to the U.S., the EU vowed to respond “firmly and immediately” to “unjustified” trade barriers and suggested it would impose its own tariffs on U.S. imports if Trump proceeded with his.
Trump, in his Truth Social announcement, said reciprocal tariffs on nations that levy taxes on U.S. exports were still set to take effect on April 2. He has also hinted at putting tariffs on automobile imports, lumber, pharmaceutical products and other goods.
Many economists have repeatedly warned that tariffs could lead to higher prices, boosting troublesome inflation in the U.S. Trump has acknowledged there could be short-term pain for Americans but he has contended that tariffs would ultimately be beneficial to the U.S. economy, the world’s largest.
Trump says the tariffs he is imposing would be an incentive for foreign companies to do more manufacturing in the United States to avoid the tariffs on overseas shipment of their products to the U.S.
More immediately, Trump is focused on the flow of drugs into the U.S.
