President Trump plans to impose stiff tariffs of Mexico, Canada and China on Saturday, which is aimed at pressure on the largest American trade partners to accept more migrants and stop the flow of migrants and drugs in the United States.
Mr. Trump will put a 25 -long tariff on the goods from Mexico and Canada, along with 10 percent of tariffs on Chinese products, Karolina Leavitt, a white house secretary, said on Friday.
In an interview with journalists at the oval office on Friday, Mr. Trump said that the tariffs were sentenced to Canada, Mexico and China, which allowed the drugs and migrants to flood into the United States.
Mr. Trump’s decision to hit US trade partners with tariff could mark the beginning of a devastating and harmful trade war, one that is far Merio from the conflict that defined Mr. Trump’s first term.
Then Mr. Trump put the tariffs in almost two -thirds of Chinese imports, resulting in China hit the United States. Mr. Trump also imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, encouraging the retaliation of the European Union, Mexico and Canada.
Although the tariffs against the Allies were considered controversial, they were relatively limited to the scope. It remains to be seen what the new tariffs of Mr. Trump apply to, but the president implied that he would be expansive and cover imports from Canada and Mexico, close allies of the United States.
Mr. Trump said on Friday that he would “absolutely” impose tariffs to the European Union, saying that “they treated us so terrible.” He added that the United States would eventually put tariffs on the chips, oil and gas – “I think it is around February 18,” he said – as later on steel, aluminum and copper.
Canada, Mexico and China are the three largest US trade partners, and they supply the United States with cars, medicines, shoes, wood, electronics, steel and many other products. Together, they make more than a third of goods and services imported to or purchased from the United States, supporting tens of millions of US affairs.
Three governments promised to respond to Mr. Trump’s taxes with their own tariffs on American exportincluding orange juice in Florida, Tennessee whiskey and peanut butter in Kentucky. All three countries have Republican senators who represented them in Congress and voted for Mr. Trump 2024.
Mr. Trump’s tariffs would immediately add an extra charge for importers that produce products over the border, Most of which are US companies. In a closer term, this could disrupt the supply chains and lead to a deficiency, if the importers decide not to pay the costs of the tariff.
If the importers pay the tariff, it is likely to turn into larger prices for some US goods, as these companies generally transfer the cost of tariffs to their customers.
“The hope that Trump’s threats of tariffs were only radiant and negotiating tools are now falling apart under the sharp reality of his determination to distribute the tariffs as a tool of other countries’ policies to his sympathy,” said Eswar piglet, professor of trade policy in Cornella University.
Mr. Trump said in November that he would put tariffs in Canada, Mexico and China, in an effort to stop the flow of migrants and drugs, especially fental, to the United States.
The threat launched a quarrel from Canadian and Mexican officials, who tried to convince the administration to give up the tariff by participating in the last minute conversations with State Secretary Marc Rubio and described in detail the efforts they made to the police.
The car, agricultural and energy companies all pushed Trump’s administration not to apply the tariffs and called to the exclusion procedure that could give some products an exemption.
Marcelo Ebard, Minister of Mexican economy, said on Friday that the tariffs would most likely lead to a lack of certain goods and that US prices on Mexican goods would increase. The move called the “strategic mistake” of Trump’s administration.
“The main influence is clear: millions of families in the United States would have to pay 25 percent more,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from Canada, in a post on X, on Friday afternoon, said that “no one – on both sides of the border – wants to see US tariffs on Canadian goods.” He said that “if the United States move forward, Canada is ready with a strong and immediate response.”
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy said China firmly opposed the tariffs and that any difference or friction should result in a dialogue. “There is no winner in a trade war or tariff war, which serves interests in neither side nor the world,” a spokesman said.
Mr. Trump’s advisers separated different options for tariffs, such as applying to certain sectors, such as steel and aluminum, or delaying their date of entry into force for several months, according to people who are familiar with planning.
Mrs. Leavitt said the president decided to impose tariffs because the countries “enabled an unprecedented invasion of an illegal fentanil that kills US citizens and also illegal immigrants to our country.”
“The amount of fental that has been seized on the southern border only in recent years can kill tens of millions of Americans,” she said. “And so the president intends to do it.”
Both boundaries are the number of illegal crossings dropped sharply.
The number of unauthorized crossings on the southern border in December 2023 reached almost 250,000, overcoming the border patrol and causing the government to close the entrance port. On the northern border, the flow of migrants who crossed illegally suddenly jumped during the Fiscal year in 2024. During this time, more than 23,000 arrests were made from illegal migrants who exceeded illegally – two years before that figure was about 2,000.
The situation on the border has changed since then.
In December, agents carried out approximately 47,000 arrests on the southern border and 510 on the northern border.
The economic fall of the tariff would depend on how structured they are, but the effects of the wave could be wide. Canada, Mexico and the United States have been managing a trade agreement for over 30 years, and many industries, from cars and clothing to agriculture, have become highly integrated throughout North America.
Mary Lovely, a senior associate at the Institute of International Economics Peterson, said the tariffs would be “very expensive” for US companies.
US factories rely on the inputs of both countries, including minerals and wood from Canada and car parts from Mexico. The tariffs would also be contrary to the efforts that US companies have made in recent years to move from China, at the urging of Trump’s and Bide’s administration, said Mrs. Lovel.
According to S&P GLOBAL economists, car sectors and electric equipment in Mexico would be the most exposed to disorders if the tariffs are adopted, as in Canada any mineral processing. In the United States, the biggest risks would be for agriculture, fishing, metals and car -sectors.
Jonathan Samford, president of the Global Business Federation, which represents international companies, said that tariffs could result in growing costs for US consumers, slowing US companies and lost opportunities for future investment.
In his oval office remarks on Friday, Mr. Trump said he would “probably” reduce the tariff on the Canadian oil to 10 percent. About 60 percent of the oil that the imports of the United States comes from Canada and about 7 percent comes from Mexico, and experts warned that reducing these flows could cause US energy prices to be pointed.
While the United States are the world’s largest oil producer, refineries should mix lighter raw oil produced in domestic fields with a heavy oil oil from a place like Canada to make fuels like gasoline and diesel.
Potential economic implications with tariffs are also Complicating things for federal reserveswhich is still trying to reduce to inflation to its 2 percent goal. Fed held interest rates this week, after a series of decreasing, in the midst of permanent inflation and questions about how the tariffs would be played.
On balance, most economists expect more trade barriers to increase prices for US companies and households, which could lead to a temporary bang of larger inflation. Whether it escalates it into a more desirable problem will depend on whether the expectations of Americans will begin to change in a meaningful way on future inflation.
Ernie Tedeschi, Director of Economics in the Yale Budget Laboratory, estimates that the 25 -pointed tariffs to all Canadian and Mexican imported goods would be paired with a 10 -and -after -left chinese importation – led to a permanent bump by 0.8 percent at the price level in price in price , measured by the cost of costs for personal consumption. This means about $ 1,300 per household on average. These estimates assume that the target countries bring retribution and that the federal reserves do not take measures by adjusting interest rates.
Mr Tedeschi expects the tariffs at the end to shave 0.2 percent of the gross domestic product after the inflation is taken into account.
Mr. Trump’s chief economic advisers have challenged the idea that Tariffs encourage inflation and claimed that exporters from countries like China would reduce their prices despite the higher US tariffs.
In the briefing for journalists, Mrs. Leavitt said the inflation remained muffled in Mr. Trump’s first term, despite being imposed on tariffs. And she said that the president takes other policies that will lower inflation, such as tax passage and stimulating energy production.
Hamed Aleaziz,, Vjosa Isai and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega contribute to reporting.
