United States President Donald Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday, in addition to doubling the 10 % 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 nations to crack down on the trafficking. The prospect of increasing tariffs has led the global economy into chaos with consumers expressing fears about inflation worsening and the auto sector likely to suffer if America’s two largest trading partners in Canada and Mexico are hit with taxes.
Trump intends to put 25 % tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10 % tax on Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity. The move, 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 Reacts
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that she hoped to speak with US President Donald Trump following 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 confident about an agreement coming together to avoid the tariffs. She said, “I hope we are able to reach an agreement and on March 4 we can announce something else”. She said Mexico’s security chiefs were discussing intelligence sharing with their American counterparts that would allow for important arrests in the US.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Reacts
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his country has invested more than 1 billion Canadian dollars to improve border security. Trudeau further added 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.
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