WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will implement tariffs Saturday on the three largest US trading partners — Canada, Mexico and China — saying there was nothing they could do to forestall him while vowing further levies on various industries.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed an “immediate response” if Trump acted.
Trump has reiterated his plans for 25 percent tariffs on imports from neighboring Canada and Mexico, saying they have failed to crack down on illegal migrants crossing the US border and on the flow of fentanyl.
He also threatened a 10 percent duty for Chinese goods on the same day, similarly over the drug.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt affirmed Friday the February 1 imposition of these tariffs.
“Both Canada and Mexico have allowed an unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens, and also immigrants into our country,” she told reporters.
She did not commit to exemptions on sectors, and rejected warnings that this would spark a trade war.
Beyond the three countries, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday that tariffs on oil and gas could arrive around February 18.
“Eventually we’re going to put tariffs on chips, we’re going to put tariffs on oil and gas,” he said, without specifying which countries he would target.
He also vowed to impose higher duties on steel and aluminum, and eventually copper imports.
Washington was “absolutely” going to impose tariffs on the European Union in the future as well, Trump said, adding that the bloc “has treated us so terribly.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed Friday an “immediate response” if Trump acted, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was in close contact with Trump’s administration.
Trump has not specified tools he would use, though analysts suggest he could tap emergency economic powers, which allow the president to regulate imports during a national emergency.
Beijing has rebuffed claims of its complicity in the deadly fentanyl trade. Close US ally Canada has countered that below one percent of undocumented migrants and fentanyl entering the United States comes through its northern border.
Some analysts believe tariff threats are a bargaining chip to accelerate the renegotiation of the existing trade deal, known as USMCA, between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
But tariff hikes on the trading partners would likely prove a major shock, shaking up supply chains.
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