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UNITED STATES, North America — Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China to tackle illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the US.
The president-elect said that immediately after his inauguration on 20 January he will sign an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on all goods coming from Mexico and Canada.
He also said an additional 10% tariff will be levied on China until the government blocks smuggling of the synthetic opioid fentanyl from the country.
The move of implicated might trigger tension with America’s three biggest trading partners.
The tariffs on Mexico and Canada will remain in place until the two countries clamp down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants illegally crossing the border, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He added that “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem."
“It is time for them to pay a very big price!”
During his election campaign, Trump threatened Mexico and China with tariffs of up to 100%.
Trump has also said he will end China’s most-favoured-nation trading status with the US – the most advantageous terms Washington offers on tariffs and other restrictions.
Tariffs are a central part of Trump’s economic vision- he sees them as a way of growing the US economy, protecting jobs and raising tax revenue.
“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,” Stephen Roach, Senior Fellow at the Paul Tsai China Centre of Yale Law School said.
The new tariffs appear to break the terms of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade.
The deal, which Trump signed into law, took effect in 2020. It continued a largely duty-free trading relationship between the three neighbouring countries.
After Trump made his tariff threat, he discussed trade and border security with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to the Reuters news agency.
