The pause is over.
President Donald Trump announced Monday 25 percent tariffs on goods coming from Mexico and Canada – plus a 10-percent duty on Canadian energy products — would go into effect. He had paused imposition of the tariffs last month pending a commitment from both nations to increase their efforts at stopping the flow of illegal immigrants and fentanyl into the U.S.
Apparently unsatisfied with the efforts, Trump imposed the tariffs effective at midnight Tuesday.
Trump also doubled the 10-percent tariff on Chinese imports (he had imposed an initial 10-percent tariff last month).
China retaliated swiftly Tuesday, imposing tariffs of up to 15 percent on a variety of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.
The new Chinese levies, which take effect on March 10, include a 15-percent tariff on chicken, wheat, corn and cotton and a 10% tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, fruits, vegetables, and dairy and fish products, NBC News reported.
Chinese officials said the tariffs undermine cooperation between the world’s two largest economies.
“The Chinese people have never believed in coercion or intimidation, nor do we succumb to bullying and hegemonic tactics,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Tuesday. “Pressure, threats and coercion are not the right way to engage with China. If the U.S. attempts to exert extreme pressure on China, it is simply targeting the wrong country and miscalculating its moves.”
The Associated Press reported that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would put tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. Mexico didn’t immediately detail any retaliatory measures.
Trudeau said Canada would impose 25-percent tariffs on $107 billion (U.S.) worth of American goods, starting with tariffs on $21 billion worth of goods immediately and on the remaining amount on American products in three weeks.
“Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. trade action is withdrawn, and should U.S. tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures,” Trudeau said.
On Tuesday, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum announced her country will respond to the tariffs imposed by the United States with its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. Sheinbaum said she will announce the products Mexico will target on Sunday in a public event in Mexico City’s central plaza.
“There is no motive or reason, nor justification that supports this decision that will affect our people and our nations,” she said.
Trump imposed the tariffs despite the warnings of mainstream economists.
“It’s a very powerful weapon that politicians haven’t used because they were either dishonest, stupid or paid off in some other form,” Trump said Monday at the White House. “And now we’re using them.”
The tariffs may be short-lived if the U.S. economy suffers. But Trump has also suggested he’d put tariffs on the European Union, India, computer chips, autos and pharmaceutical drugs.
“It’s chaotic, especially compared to the way we saw tariffs rolled out in the first (Trump) administration,” Michael House, co-chair of the international trade practice at the Perkins Coie law firm, told the AP. “It’s unpredictable. We don’t know, in fact, what the president will do.’’
Democrats, of course, criticized the tariffs. But the tariffs also drew complaints within Trump’s own party.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, said she’s “very concerned” about the tariffs going into effect because of her state’s proximity to Canada, according to the AP.
“Maine and Canada’s economy are integrated,” Collins said, explaining that much of the state’s lobsters and blueberries are processed in Canada and then sent back to the U.S.
