US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced plans to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico starting Saturday, citing “unfair trade practices by the two neighboring countries”. He also indicated that the administration is considering similar measures against China.
Speaking to the reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, Trump asserted that, “I will be putting the tariff of 25 per cent on Canada and, separately, 25 per cent on Mexico. We will really have to do that because we have very big deficits with those countries. Those tariffs may or may not rise with time.”
“Mexico and Canada have never been good to us on trade,” the President said, while adding that both nations have treated the US “very unfairly” on trade.
“We will be announcing tariffs on Canada and Mexico for several reasons,” Trump stated, citing unauthorised immigration, drug trafficking, and significant US financial support to both countries through trade deficits as key justifications for the move.
When questioned, Trump stated he would conclude Thursday night (local time), whether oil would be included amongst tariffed items.
“We’re going to make that determination probably tonight on oil. Because they send us oil…It depends on what the price is. If the oil is properly priced, if they treat us properly, which they don’t,” he said.
He emphasised that the US could recover “very quickly,” stating that it “does not need” the products imported from Canada and Mexico.
“We have all the oil you need. We have all the trees you need, meaning the lumber. We have more than almost anybody in those two categories. In oil, we have more than anybody,” the 47th president of the US said.
“We don’t need anybody’s trees, we have great lumber in this country. We have to free them up environmentally, which I can do very quickly,” he added.
“We don’t need what they have. For us to be subsidising Canada to the tune of $175 billion a year, and subsidising Mexico to the tune of $250 billion-$300 billion a year,” he further continued.
Regarding China, Trump indicated the possibility of punitive measures against China over its role in fentanyl exports to the US.
“Because of that, they’re causing us hundreds of thousands of deaths. China is going to end up paying a tariff also for that. We are in the process of doing that. We’ll make that determination of what it’s going to be,” he said.
“China has to stop sending fentanyl into our country and killing our people,” Trump added. Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat in the country, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
