Trump to impose hefty tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, China

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an order on Saturday imposing hefty new tariffs of 25% on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% on imports from China, threatening to ignite a trade war that could disrupt more than $2.1 trillion of annual trade, according to Reuters.

Trump, who is working from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida this weekend, said on Friday that there was little that the top three U.S. trading partners could do to forestall the tariffs.

Just 12 days into his second term, Trump is upending the norms of how the United States is governed and interacts with the wider world. On Friday, he pledged to proceed with the levies despite acknowledging they could cause disruption and hardship for American households.

Trump set the Feb. 1 deadline to press for strong action to halt the flow of the opiate fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the U.S. from China via Mexico and Canada, as well as to stop illegal immigrants crossing U.S. borders.

But during a lengthy White House exchange with reporters, Trump brushed aside the notion that his threats were merely bargaining tools:

“No, it’s not … we have big (trade) deficits with, as you know, with all three of them.”

He also said revenue was a factor and the tariffs may be increased, adding: “But it’s a lot of money coming to the United States.”

Trump did, however, mention a potential carve-out for oil from Canada, saying that tariff rate would be 10%. But he indicated that wider tariffs on oil and natural gas would be coming in mid-February, remarks that sent oil prices higher.

At nearly $100 billion in 2023, imports of crude oil accounted for roughly a quarter of all U.S. imports from Canada, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Source: Reuters

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