Donald Trump Vows To Impose New Tariffs On China, Mexico, Canada After January 20 Inauguration
He said the tariffs are intended to pressure the countries into addressing illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the US.
United States president-elect, Donald Trump, has announced plans to impose new tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada immediately after his inauguration on 20 January.
He said the tariffs are intended to pressure the countries into addressing illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the US.
Trump revealed he would sign an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, BBC reports.
He also plans a 10% tariff on Chinese goods until Beijing stops the smuggling of fentanyl into the US.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” Trump stated on his Truth Social platform. “It is time for them to pay a very big price!”
He criticised China in a separate post, claiming officials failed to honour promises to implement the death penalty for fentanyl dealers.
However, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington denied this, saying, “The idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality.”
The spokesperson added, “China believes that China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature. No one will win a trade war or a tariff war.”
The Biden administration has also pushed China to halt fentanyl production, with US data attributing nearly 75,000 deaths last year to the synthetic opioid.
During his campaign, Trump threatened tariffs as high as 100% on Mexico and China if deemed necessary and proposed revoking China’s most-favoured-nation trading status with the US.
Stephen Roach, Senior Fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center of Yale Law School, commented, “It’s clearly consistent with his promise that he made during the campaign to utilise tariffs as a weapon to accomplish many of his policy initiatives.”
Trump’s proposed tariffs could violate the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which he signed into law in 2020.
Mexico’s finance ministry responded, stating, “Mexico is the United States’ top trade partner, and the USMCA provides a framework of certainty for national and international investors.”
