The 47th President, Donald J. Trump announced in his presidential campaign that he would apply tariffs to incoming goods from other countries in hopes of limiting illegal drugs from entering and limit immigrants from other countries. Going into his presidency, Trump has upheld his promise.
On Saturday, February 1, President Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, and imposing a 10% tariff on imports from China. According to the BBC, Canada, Mexico, and China accounted for more than 40% of the United States imports in the past year. The most recent news we have on the tariffs are that Canada’s and Mexico’s tariffs are on hold for at least one month because of responsibilities on border security while China’s tariffs took effect on Tuesday, February 4, after a call with China’s president, Xi Jinping.
In response to the tariffs, Trump took to his Truth Social account to say, “This was done through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) because of the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our Citizens, including fentanyl.” But many other countries have had many different responses.
At first, in response to the tariffs, Canada placed a 25% counter tariff on the U.S for goods such as beverages, different paper products, as well as cosmetics. Soon after, another list was broken to the public for items such as different vehicles, different steel and aluminum products, particular produce, different meats such as pork and beef, and more. Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has also been participating in press conferences as well as taking to social media to express his feelings, and rebuttals about the tariffs being imposed. Trudeau made a post on X (formally Twitter) stating, “Now is the time to choose products made right here in Canada… Check the labels. Let’s do our part. Wherever we can, choose Canada.” Trudeau also stated in a press conference, “We’re certainly not looking to escalate, but we will stand up for Canada.”
Mexico’s government has stated they will put into place tariffs on the U.S. as well, they have not yet introduced any percent rate or products they will impose in their tariffs, according to AP News.
Also according to AP News, Mexico, Canada and the United States have released the information that Justin Trudeau, and Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, spoke to Donald Trump on February 1st, after the tariffs were announced. Trudeau’s staff made a statement announcing that Mexico and Canada would “enhance the strong bilateral relations.”
Not all of the information you read here is final, a lot is subject to change between the U.S. and the trade war that these tariffs are causing. Overall, it seems the trade war is only beginning, and foreign countries are not ready to back down from his actions and threats anytime soon.
