Trump Threatens 25% Import Tariffs on Mexico, Canada, Additional 10% on China

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to impose 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% on goods from China, in moves likely to ramp up tensions with the U.S.'s three top trading partners.
• The measures targeting Mexico and Canada would be imposed on his first day in office, Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
• Trump didn't disclose a date for the China tariffs but—like the Mexico and Canada ones—they are aimed at curbing illegal fentanyl imports, he said.
• China, Mexico and Canada pushed back on Trump's threats, seeking dialogue.

President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to impose 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% on goods from China, in moves likely to ramp up tensions with the U.S.'s three top trading partners.

The measures targeting Mexico and Canada, which Trump said would be imposed on his first day in office, are aimed at curbing fentanyl coming into the country as well as "thousands" of "Illegal Aliens," he said on his Truth Social platform.

"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. "This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem."

Vow Threatens Free-Trade Deal With Canada, Mexico

A 25% tariff would be more than the one Trump had floated on the campaign trail, and threaten the USMCA free-trade deal between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada he signed in 2018 during his first administration.

In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump said that the 10% of added tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the U.S. would be imposed to crack down on fentanyl smuggling. He didn't give a date for the tariffs.

"Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "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 has proposed tariff policies that he said would help bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and started a slew of policies that President Biden continued under his administration. 

China, Canada and Mexico Push Back on Trump's Threats

 In a response to a request for comment from Investopedia, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that in terms of regulating fentanyl exports, the country has "carried out extensive and in-depth counternarcotics cooperation with the US, which has been highly productive,"

"China remains ready to continue counternarcotics cooperation with the US on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect," he said Tuesday.

Separately, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson at the Chinese embassy in Washington DC said late Monday that "no one will win a trade war or a tariff war."

"About the issue of US tariffs on China, China believes that China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature," Liu said.

Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum, meanwhile, said in a press briefing cited by Reuters that she will send a letter to Trump urging negotiations, noting that 25% tariffs would cause inflation and job losses in both countries.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford posted on social media platform X that a 25% tariff would be "devastating to workers and jobs in both Canada and the U.S" and the country needs a "Team Canada" response.

UPDATE-This article has been updated with comments from officials in China, Canada and Mexico.

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