Canada to impose 25% tariffs, Mexico to set retaliatory import duties, China announces 15% tariffs on food products, adds US companies to export control, ‘unreliable entity’ list
US President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico started Tuesday, fueling fears about further escalation of a global trade war.
He also increased the formerly imposed 10% tariffs on imports from China to 20% on Tuesday.
All three countries responded with retaliatory action, wowing further duties on American goods.
The White House said the tariffs are important for “safeguarding the nation” from the flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl.
“While President Trump gave both Canada and Mexico ample opportunity to curb the dangerous cartel activity and influx of lethal drugs flowing into our country, they have failed to adequately address the situation,” it said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to US President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada, saying that it is “a very dumb thing to do.”
“Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods, starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion of American products in 21 days,” he said in a news conference in Ottawa.
Stating that “there are no winners in a trade war,” Trudeau highlighted that Canadian tariffs against American goods “will remain in place until the US tariffs are withdrawn, and not a moment sooner.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also announced Tuesday that Mexico will charge retaliatory tariffs to Trump’s 25% tariffs on Mexican goods.
She condemned the tariffs on Mexican exports and accusations that her government holds ties with drug trafficking organizations while announcing retaliation by imposing tariffs on US goods.
“There is no motive, reason, or justification that supports this decision that will affect our peoples and nations; we have said it in different ways: cooperation and coordination, yes; subordination and interventionism, no. Mexico is to be respected. We are equal nations,” she said at a news conference Tuesday.
Sheinbaum stated that her government will answer Trump’s tariffs with measures of its own, which will be announced Sunday.
“I want to make it clear today that we will always seek a negotiated solution as we have proposed within the framework of respect for our sovereignty, but the unilateral decision affects the United States national and foreign companies that operate in our country and affect our people, so we have decided to respond with measures that will be announced in public next Sunday,” added Sheinbaum.
China, in a tit-for-tat move, also announced that it will impose additional tariffs on certain US food products, state media reported.
A 15% tariff will be levied on imported chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, while a 10% tariff will apply to sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and dairy products, as the tariffs will be effective March 10.
China also responded by adding US-based firms to foreign trade “blacklists,” which fully or partially ban the companies from engaging in import and export activities related to China and from making new investments.
Beijing has added 10 US-based companies to an unreliable entity list and 15 to its export control list.
