CashNews.co
By Costas Pitas
(Reuters) -President-elect Donald Trump on Monday pledged big tariffs on the United States’ three largest trading partners – Canada, Mexico and China – detailing how he will implement campaign promises that could trigger trade wars.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, 2025, said he would impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico until they clamp down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing the border, in a move that would appear to violate a free-trade deal.
Trump also outlined “an additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs” on China, in some of his most specific comments on how he will implement his economic agenda since winning the Nov. 5 election on promises to “put America first”.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
While migrant arrests reached a record during President Joe Biden’s presidency, straining U.S. border enforcement, illegal crossings fell dramatically this year as Biden instituted new border restrictions and Mexico stepped up enforcement.
More than 83% of exports from Mexico went to the U.S. in 2023 and 75% of Canadian exports go to the country.
Trump’s threatened new tariff would appear to violate the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade. The deal which Trump signed into law took effect in 2020, and continued the largely duty-free trade between the three countries.
Mexico’s finance ministry said: “Mexico is the United States’ top trade partner, and the USMCA provides a framework of certainty for national and international investors.”
The office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Canada and the United States at one point imposed sanctions on each others’ products during the rancorous talks that eventually led to USMCA.
The dollar rose more than 2% against the Mexican peso and jumped 1% on the Canadian dollar after Trump posted on his social media platform. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1% and U.S. stock futures dropped 0.3% in the aftermath.
CHINA: NO ONE WINS TRADE WARS
On China, the president-elect accused Beijing of not taking strong enough action to stop the flow of illicit drugs crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico.
“Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America,” Trump said.