Trump Says Mexico, Canada Tariffs to Go Live on March 4, Threatens Extra 10% on China- wna24

Washington: President Donald Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday, in addition to doubling the 10 per cent universal tariff charged on imports from China.

Trump shared a social media post that reads “Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at  very high and unacceptable levels. A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China. More than 100,000 people died last year due to the distribution of these dangerous and highly addictive POISONS. Millions of people have died over the last two decades. The families of the victims are devastated and, in many instances, virtually destroyed. We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled. China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date. The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter. GOD BLESS AMERICA!.” 

Tariffs to Crackdown Trafficking 

These import taxes would force other countries to crack down on the trafficking.

The prospect of escalating tariffs has already thrown the global economy into turmoil, with consumers expressing fears about inflation worsening and the auto sector possibly suffering if America’s two largest trading partners in Canada and Mexico are hit with taxes.

But Trump has also at times engaged in aggressive posturing only to give last-minute reprieves, previously agreeing to a 30-day suspension of the Canada and Mexico tariffs that were initially supposed to start in February.

Trump intends to put 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10 per cent tax on Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity. The move, ostensibly about drug trafficking and immigration, led Mexico and Canada to respond by emphasizing their existing efforts to address these issues. Canada created a fentanyl czar, and Mexico sent 10,000 members of its National Guard to its border with the United States.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she hoped to speak with Trump after the Cabinet-level meetings occurring in Washington this week. Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente was scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday afternoon.

Trump, “as you know, has his way of communicating,” Sheinbaum said. But she said that her government would stay “cool-headed” and optimistic about an agreement coming together to avoid the tariffs.

“I hope we are able to reach an agreement and on March 4 we can announce something else,” she said.

She said Mexico’s security chiefs were discussing intelligence sharing with their American counterparts that would allow for important arrests in the US.

On the economic front, she said Mexico’s goal is to protect the free trade pact that was negotiated during the first Trump administration between Mexico and the United States. That 2020 deal, which included Canada, was an update of the North American Free Trade Agreement from 1994.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country has invested more than 1 billion Canadian dollars to improve border security, adding that his government’s ministers and officials are also in Washington this week.

“There is no emergency for the United States at the border with Canada when it comes to fentanyl, and that is exactly what we are demonstrating at this time,” Trudeau said in Montreal.

“If the United States goes ahead and imposes tariffs, we already shared the details of our plan. We have USD 30 billion worth of US products that will be subject to tariffs. And USD 125 billion of tariffs that will be applied three weeks later. But we don’t want to be in that position.” Trump did impose a 10 per cent tariff on China for its role in the manufacturing of chemicals used to make fentanyl, and that tax would now be doubled, according to his social media post.

On Thursday, China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao wrote to Jamieson Greer, the newly confirmed US trade representative, that differences on trade should be resolved through dialogues and negotiations.

The 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada would amount to a total tax increase on the US public of somewhere between USD 120 billion to USD 225 billion annually, according to Jacob Jensen, a trade policy analyst at the American Action Forum, a centre-right think tank. The additional China tariffs could cost consumers up to USD 25 billion.

The potential for higher prices and slower growth could create political blowback for Trump, who promised voters in last year’s presidential election that he could quickly lower the inflation rate, which jumped during Democratic President Joe Biden ‘s term.

But Trump also campaigned on imposing broad tariffs, which he plans to launch on April 2 by resetting them to match the taxes that he determines are charged by other countries on American goods.

“The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect,” Trump said as part of his new social media post.

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Trump indicated Wednesday that European countries would also face a 25 per cent tariff as part of his reciprocal tariffs. He also wants separate tariffs on autos, computer chips and pharmaceutical drugs that would be levied in addition to the reciprocal tariffs.

The president already announced that he’s removing the exemptions on his 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs, in addition to planning taxes on copper imports.

The prospect of a broader trade conflict should other nations follow through with their own retaliatory tariffs is already spooking US consumers, potentially undermining Trump’s promise to unleash stronger economic growth.

The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index had dropped 7 points to a reading of 98.3. It was the largest monthly decline since August 2021, when inflationary pressures began to reverberate across the United States as the economy recovered from the coronavirus pandemic. Average 12-month inflation expectations jumped from 5.2 per cent to 6 per cent in February, the Conference Board noted.