Trump insists he will impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on February 1
The president claims that the two countries have not stopped drugs and migrants crossing their borders into the US, and is irked by the significant trade deficit with both
The threat is not new and until it is actually carried out, Donald Trump can always change his mind. However, the February 1 deadline for imposing 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada is almost here. Trump claims these two countries have not only failed to stop drugs and migrants crossing their borders into the U.S., but that it is unfair that Washington has a high trade deficit with both. The 25% tariff threat is a way of pressurizing Mexico and Canada into renegotiating trade agreements and forcing a better balance of trade.
“We’ll be announcing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a number of reasons,” Trump told reporters on January 30 as he signed executive actions in response to the Washington plane crash the day before. “Number one is the people who have poured into our country so horribly and so much. Number two are the drugs — fentanyl and everything else that have come into the country. And number three are the massive subsidies we are giving to Canada and Mexico in the form of deficits. And I will be putting the tariff of 25% on Canada, and, separately, 25% on Mexico. And we will really have to do that because we have very big deficits with those countries. Those tariffs may or may not rise with time.”
Trump also said he had yet to make a decision on whether tariffs would apply to Canadian oil imports, a decision that would rest on the price of crude oil. “If the oil is priced appropriately, if they treat us appropriately...” he said. “Look, Canada and Mexico, they have never been good to us on trade. They have treated us very unfairly on trade. And we will be able to make that up very quickly, because we don’t need the products that they have,” the president said.
“We have all the oil you need. We have all the trees you need, meaning the lumber. We have more than almost anybody in those two categories. In oil, we have more than anybody and we don’t need anybody’s trees.”
“We don’t need what they have,” the Republican insisted. “And for us to be subsidizing Canada to the tune of $175 billion a year and subsidizing Mexico to the tune of $250 billion, $300 billion a year…” he added, falsely claiming a trade deficit to be some kind of subsidy.
Trump first threatened 25% tariffs on his two main trading partners last November when he was still president-elect. He subsequently said he would approve these tariffs on his first day in office. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with Trump by phone and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Mar-a-Lago in Florida to meet with him. But despite Trump’s assurances, he has moved quickly to carry out his threats. Mexico and Canada have tried to tighten control of their borders to dissuade Trump from imposing the tariffs but have so far failed to do so.
From January to November 2024, the U.S. imported goods from Canada worth $699 billion and goods from Mexico worth $776 billion. The magnitude of the tariffs that Trump will enact could have serious repercussions on certain industries, such as the automotive and energy sectors.
The tariffs will also be infringing on the protections of the free trade agreement between the three countries, potentially triggering a trade war. Both Canada and Mexico have threatened to retaliate.
Not content with threatening Canada and Mexico, Trump has gone several steps further, pursuing the idea of a blanket tariff on all U.S. imports. He has also promised tariffs on products such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductor chips, steel, aluminum, and copper, which could affect a raft of countries, including Canada and Mexico.
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