United States President Donald Trump will on Saturday, February 1, 2025, implement tariffs on the three largest U.S. trading partners – Canada, Mexico, and China – sparking alarm for global trade.
The White House disclosed this on Friday, January 31.
Trump has reiterated his plans for 25 per
cent tariffs on neighbours Canada and Mexico, saying they have failed to crack down on illegal migrants crossing the U.S.border and the flow of fentanyl.
He also threatened a 10 per cent duty for Chinese goods on the same day, similarly over the drug.
“The February 1st deadline that President Trump put into place at a statement several weeks ago continues,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday.
“Both Canada and Mexico have allowed an unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens, and also immigrants into our country,” she added.
She did not commit to exemptions on sectors, and rejected warnings that this would spark a trade war.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed earlier on Friday an “immediate response” if Trump acted, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was in close contact with Trump’s administration.
While Trump has not specified tools he would use, analysts have suggested he could tap emergency economic powers, which allow the president to regulate imports during a national emergency. But this could be hindered by lawsuits.
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Fentanyl has been responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths a year.
China has rebuffed claims of its complicity in the trade, while close U.S. ally Canada has countered that below one per cent 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, AFP reported.
“However, potentially dismantling a decades-long free-trade area could be a significant shock,” said a recent JPMorgan note.
Tariffs are paid by U.S. businesses to the government on purchases from abroad and the economic weight can fall on importers, foreign suppliers or consumers.
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