US President Donald Trump says he will impose hefty new tariffs of 25 per cent on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10 per cent on imports from China, and nothing can be done by the three countries to forestall them.
Trump did, however, reference a potential carve out for oil from Canada, saying that rate would be 10 per cent versus the 25 per cent planned for other goods from the United States’ northern neighbour. But he indicated wider tariffs on oil and natural gas would be coming in mid-February, remarks that sent oil prices higher
Trump has been threatening the tariffs for weeks, saying they would be imposed on Saturday and remain in place until the countries did more to stem the flow of both migrants and fentanyl over the US border.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he was signing executive orders, Trump said he understood the duties could result in higher costs being passed on to consumers and acknowledged his actions may cause disruptions in the short term. Most economists estimate such sweeping import taxes, and the likely retaliation, would disrupt economic activity around the globe.
Asked if there was any opportunity at this stage for the three top US trading partners to win a delay, Trump said: “No, no. Not right now, no.”
He brushed away the notion his threats for levies have been a bargaining tool. “No, it’s not … we have big (trade) deficits with, as you know, with all three of them.”
“It’s something we’re doing, and we’ll possibly very substantially increase it, or not, we’ll see how it is,” Trump said.
“But it’s a lot of money coming to the United States.”
And more tariffs are coming, the Republican president said, saying import taxes were being considered on European goods, as well as on steel, aluminum and copper, and on drugs and semiconductors.
“We’re going to be putting tariffs on steel and aluminum, and ultimately copper. Copper will take a little longer,” he said.
Financial markets have been whipsawed by the rapid-fire but still not fully clear developments on Trump’s tariff plans, with currency trading showing particular volatility. The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso both weakened while Treasury bond yields rose, and stocks ended the day lower.
Still, he said he was not concerned about the reaction of financial markets to his plans to impose tariffs.
Reuters earlier quoted sources familiar with the tariff deliberations as saying Trump would announce tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports on Saturday but delay collection of the duties until March 1 and offer a limited process for certain imports to be exempted.
But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there would be no delay in the implementation.
“The president will be implementing tomorrow 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico, 25 per cent tariffs on Canada, and a 10 per cent tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” she told a White House Press briefing.
When Trump imposed punitive duties on Chinese goods in 2018 and 2019, there was typically a lag of two to three weeks for Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting tariffs, due to notices required for importers.
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