President Donald Trump said Friday afternoon that he will impose tariffs on imported goods from Mexico, Canada and China starting Saturday, a move that’s expected to raise the prices Americans pay for goods coming from those countries.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump claimed he was imposing the import taxes — which are paid by American companies and passed on to consumers — because U.S. allies Mexico and Canada were “sending massive amounts of fentanyl” into the country that he claimed had originated in China. He also cited trade deficits as a justification for the import tax increases.
“We have big deficits, and it’s something we’re doing, and we’ll, we’ll possibly very substantially increase it or not. We’ll see how it is. But it’s, it’s a lot of money coming to the United States,” said Trump, who claimed the Canadian government has “treated us very unfairly” while being “subsidized” by the US.
He also justified the import taxes on Mexican goods by blaming that country’s government for “millions of criminals coming into our country, criminals, people from jails, from all over the world.”
“They come through Mexico, and they come through Canada too. A lot of them come through Canada. And a lot of fentanyl comes through Canada. And China makes the fentanyl. You know, China makes the fentanyl, gives it to Mexico, puts it through Canada, puts it through different different places, mostly Mexico, but also a lot through Canada. And so all three haven’t treated us very well,” he said.
President Donald Trump will enact 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada starting Saturday, the White House said (AP)
Trump also said he would be imposing import taxes on oil, gas, steel, aluminum, and copper — all important raw materials — in a move that most experts say would cripple the American economy.
“Next month, we’re going to be putting tariffs on steel and aluminum, and we’ll give you an announcement as to what the exact date is, but it’ll be a tremendous amount of money for our country, tremendous amount,” he said, adding later that people would “see the power of the tariff.” He also threatened to impose import taxes on pharmaceuticals used by Americans, something that could immediately negate years-long efforts to lower drug prices by multiple presidential administrations.
Trump claimed that the massive import taxes would “bring our industry back” by forcing foreign manufacturers to open American manufacturing facilities and compared his unilateral import taxes to a border wall.
“We want to bring pharmaceuticals back to the country. And the way you bring it back to the country is by putting up a wall. And the wall is a tariff wall. We were the richest country in the world. We were at our riches from 1870 to 1913 that’s when we had we were a tariff country, and then they went to an income tax concept,” he said.
Most economists and international trade experts have derided Trump’s plans as economically illiterate and nonsensical, and his own public statements have indicated that he sincerely believes that tariffs are paid by foreign nations as a sort of tribute for the purpose of accessing American markets. In fact, they are paid by American importers and passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump would be keeping to a February 1 deadline he’d set for the tariffs during the transition period after he won the 2024 presidential election.
She told reporters that Trump would “be implementing, tomorrow, a 25 percent tariffs on Mexico, 25 percent tariffs on Canada and a 10 percent tariff on China” after she was asked about a Wall Street Journal report that stated members of the administration hoped to find more targeted measures rather than sweeping tariffs.
As Leavitt spoke, stock markets in the U.S. began a massive sell-off in response to her comments.
Staff were reportedly looking at measures that would use specific tariffs on steel and aluminum – similar to those Trump enacted during his first term – or exclude oil.
The U.S. imports countless goods from China, Canada and Mexico including crude oil, electronics and food. A tariff could make prices of those items go up for Americans. (Getty Images)
Trump also told reporters he would enact tariffs on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, aluminum, oil and gas at some point in the future, though he did not elaborate on when those would begin or how much he plans to tariff.
During his first administration, Trump got the U.S. into a trade war with China — something he hinted he could bring back while on the campaign trail. The president used tariffs as a political tool to punish those he believed treats the U.S. unfairly.
Though tariffs are designed to promote domestic production and purchasing by taxing imported goods, the increase in cost typically falls on consumers, not foreign governments. This is because retailers often sidestep the increased import costs by raising prices.
The U.S. imports a host of goods from the three nations that are set to face Saturday’s tariffs. The biggest imports from Canada into the U.S. are energy — with experts saying a 25 percent tariff will drive up oil costs and hurt consumers at the gas pump. In 2023, about 60 percent of crude oil imports came from Canada.
Canada is also a major importer of lumber, food and other goods.
The U.S. gets consumer electronics, cars and other products from Mexico. Approximately 2.6 million vehicles are imported from Mexico. The country to the south of the U.S. also provides 63 percent of vegetable imports. A 25 percent tariff could lead to higher prices at the grocery store for Americans.
China imports countless products, namely electronics, including nearly $45 billion worth of smartphones in 2023.
Canada and Mexico have said they would respond with their own measures.
“If there are U.S. tariffs, Mexico would also raise tariffs,” Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week.
