US president Donald Trump has confirmed that he will hit Canadian and Mexican goods with 25% tariffs at the border tomorrow (1 February), following up on earlier threats to target the goods of some of his closest allies.
In a press conference, he claimed that the reason behind the tariffs was the flow of migrants and illegal drugs into the US, as well as “massive subsidies given to Mexico and Canada in the form of deficits”. He added:
“Those tariffs may or may not rise with time.”
He said a decision about whether to exclude oil from the tariffs had not yet been made.
‘Real people’ hurt
Canadian foreign minister Mélanie Joly told the FT that Trump’s tariff threat on Canadian imports would hit “real people” if relations between the two countries descended into a trade war.
“We ship oil at a discount which is, ultimately, refined in Texas. If it’s not us, it is Venezuela,” Joly said.
“There’s no other option on the table, and this administration doesn’t want to work with Venezuela.”
Regional reaction
Regional Canadian leaders have also reacted. Even before today’s news, Ontario premier Doug Ford called snap elections in his province, saying he needed a “strong mandate” to resist the tariffs.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum had previously urged Trump to reconsider, noting that any tariffs would hurt both countries:
“Why impose a tax that would put them at risk? This is not acceptable and would cause inflation and job losses in Mexico and the US.”
Both Ottawa and Mexico City have also drawn up separate lists of retaliatory tariffs that they could respond with.
The three nations are part of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and have enjoyed close trade relations for decades.
China
Trump also confirmed his intentions to hit Chinese goods with tariffs, but did not provide any additional details.
"With China, I'm also thinking about something because they're sending fentanyl into our country, and because of that, they're causing us hundreds of thousands of deaths," Trump said.
"So, China is going to end up paying a tariff also for that, and we're in the process of doing that."
Latin stand-off
Earlier this week, a stand-off between the US and Colombia was resolved after the Latin American nation agreed to take in deportees by military plane.
After counter-threats of tariffs between both countries, Colombian president Gustavo Petro agreed to let the two plane-loads of migrants land in his country. Colombia has generally allowed civilian transportation, but Petro insisted that that any returned citizens were treated “with dignity”.
Petro said he would never “never allow Colombians to be returned handcuffed on flights".
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a press conference in Brasilia that, if Trump hits Brazil with tariffs, he will respond in kind.
“It is very simple: If he taxes Brazilian products, there will be reciprocity,” Lula said, according to Al Jazeera.
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