policy
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose sweeping latest tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China once he takes office as a part of his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and medicines.
If the tariffs were imposed, prices for every thing from gasoline to cars could rise dramatically. According to the most recent census data, the United States is the world's largest importer of products, with Mexico, China and Canada being the highest three suppliers.
Trump made those threats Monday evening in two posts on his website Truth Social, through which he railed against the influx of illegal immigrants at the same time as the variety of border crossings within the South is at its lowest level in 4 years.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will be signing all the necessary documents to impose a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada on ALL products imported into the United States and the ridiculous open borders,” he wrote, complaining about it, “Thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, pushing crime and drugs to unprecedented levels,” at the same time as violent crime is down from pandemic peaks.
He said the brand new tariffs would remain in effect “until drugs, especially fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”
Trump also directed his ire at China, saying he has had “many discussions with China about the massive amounts of drugs, particularly fentanyl, that are being sent to the United States – but to no avail.”
“Until they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% tariff on top of any additional tariffs on all of its many products entering the United States of America,” he wrote.
It is unclear whether Trump will actually perform the threats or whether he’ll use them as a negotiating tactic before taking office in the brand new yr.
The variety of arrests for crossing the border illegally from Mexico has fallen and remained at about its lowest level in 4 years in October, in response to the most recent U.S. figures
The Border Patrol arrested 56,530 people in October, lower than a 3rd of the number from last October.
Much of America's fentanyl is smuggled from Mexico. Border seizures of the drug surged under President Joe Biden, with U.S. officials counting about 21,900 kilos (12,247 kilograms) of fentanyl seized in fiscal yr 2024, in comparison with 2,545 kilos (1,154 kilograms) in 2019, when Trump was president.
Trump's nominee for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, if confirmed, could be considered one of several officials answerable for imposing tariffs against other nations. He has said several times that tariffs are a method of negotiating with other countries.
He wrote in an editorial on Fox News last week before his nomination that tariffs were “a useful tool for achieving the president's foreign policy goals.” Whether it's getting allies to spend more on their very own defense, opening foreign markets to U.S. exports, ensuring cooperation in ending illegal immigration and banning the fentanyl trade, or deterring military aggression, tariffs can play a central role play.”
If Trump were to implement the threatened tariffs, the brand new taxes could be an unlimited challenge, especially for the economies of Canada and Mexico.
They would also raise doubts concerning the reliability of the largely Trump-brokered 2020 trade deal, which is as a result of be reviewed in 2026.
Spokespeople for Canada's ambassador to Washington and her deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, who chairs a special Cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations to deal with concerns about one other Trump presidency, didn’t immediately comment.
Freeland said Trump's promise to start mass deportations was a key issue on the Cabinet committee.
A senior Canadian official had said before Trump's post that Canadian officials expect Trump to issue executive orders on trade and the border once he takes office. The official was not authorized to talk publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mexico's Foreign Ministry and Economy Ministry also didn’t immediately reply to Trump's comments. The president often addresses such necessary topics at her morning press conferences.
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