President Trump declared Thursday that tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico will go into effect next week, arguing that both countries haven’t done enough to combat the flow of drugs into the US.
Mexico and Canada dodged the imposition of 25% tariffs earlier this month, after the leaders of the two nations agreed to ramp up border security and crack down on fentanyl smuggling in exchange for a 30-day pause on the levy.
Absent another deal or a change of heart from the president, the tariffs will go into effect “as scheduled” on March 4.
“Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday. “A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China.”
“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,” the president said.
Trump, 78, further declared that China will face an additional 10% tariff on March 4, on top of the 10% levy he imposed on the US adversary on Feb. 4, with the goal of forcing Chinese officials to rein in the flow of precursor chemicals from China to criminal cartels that use fentanyl to manufacture deadly drugs for the US market.
“The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect,” the president added, referring to the memorandum he signed earlier this month directing the Treasury Department to impose “fair and reciprocal” tariffs on all major US trading partners.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump’s post concluded.
The president previously agreed to delay the tariffs against the US neighbors after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to send 10,000 members of her country’s national guard to the border to address drug trafficking and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the implementation a “$1.3 billion border plan” that included deploying new helicopters, technology and personnel to the US-Canada boundary.
Trudeau also committed to appointing a “Fentanyl Czar” and launching a “Canada-US Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering.”
