Trump - new tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico Day 1

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President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that his incoming administration would slap new tariffs on imported goods from Mexico, Canada and China, solidifying a key campaign promise that could have a major impact on trade.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he plans to impose a 25% tariff on products imported from Mexico and Canada, framing the proposal as a response to the ongoing fentanyl crisis.

"On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders," Trump wrote. "This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!"

Trump said that he would also seek to impose additional tariffs on China.

"I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States — But to no avail," Trump wrote. "Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America."

In response to Trump’s announcement, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that economic and trade cooperation between the U.S. and China was “mutually beneficial in nature.”

“No one will win a trade war or a tariff war,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said late Monday in a post on X.

He said China had taken steps to stop the flow of illegal drugs since President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume counternarcotics cooperation at a meeting in California last year.

“All these prove that the idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality,” Liu said.

Canadian officials stressed the close relationship between Canada and the U.S. and said they would discuss trade and border security with the incoming Trump administration.

“Canada places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc said in a joint statement. “Our relationship today is balanced and mutually beneficial, particularly for American workers.”

he Mexican Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday night.

Mexico and Canada are the United States’ top two trading partners, accounting for nearly 30% of trade volumes. The vehicle manufacturing industry, dairy, paper products, and building supplies such as wood are just some of the products that would face disruptions.

The U.S., China’s largest export market, already imposes a number of tariffs on Chinese goods. In addition to maintaining most of the tariffs Trump introduced in his first term, this year Biden increased the tariff rate on $18 billion in Chinese products such as electric vehicles, the tariff on which has quadrupled from 25% to 100%.

Any proposed tariffs are likely to receive some pushback from businesses and on Capitol Hill, as NBC News has previously reported.

Economists and retail trade groups estimate that tariffs on goods flowing into the U.S. could cost Americans $78 billion annually. For example, a $50 pair of shoes could cost almost $65, according to the National Retail Federation. The cost of a $2,000 mattress could rise by $190. Retail chain Five Below, online outlet Wayfair and Dollar Tree are some of the most vulnerable stores in a trade war, according to a CNBC analysis.

The tariffs floated by Trump would upend one of the biggest economic deals of his first term.

Trudeau and Trump are both losers. What do you expect.

President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Tuesday that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own, after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% import duties on Mexican goods if the country doesn’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border.

Sheinbaum said she was willing to engage in talks on the issues, but said drugs were a U.S. problem.

“One tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put at risk common businesses,” Sheinbaum said, referring to U.S. automakers that have plants on both sides of the border.

She said Tuesday that Mexico had done a lot to stem the flow of migrants, noting “caravans of migrants no longer reach the border.” However, Mexico’s efforts to fight drugs like the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl — which is manufactured by Mexican cartels using chemicals imported from China — have weakened in the last year.

Sheinbaum said Mexico suffered from an influx of weapons smuggled in from the United States, and said the flow of drugs “is a problem of public health and consumption in your country’s society.”

Sheinbaum also criticized U.S. spending on weapons, saying the money should instead be spent regionally to address the problem of migration. “If a percentage of what the United States spends on war were dedicated to peace and development, that would address the underlying causes of migration,” she said.

Sheinbaum’s bristly response suggests that Trump faces a much different Mexican president than he did in his first term.

Back in late 2018, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was a charismatic, old-school politician who developed a chummy relationship with Trump. The two were eventually able to strike a bargain in which Mexico helped keep migrants away from the border — and received other countries’ deported migrants — and Trump backed down on the threats.

But Sheinbaum, who took office Oct. 1, is a stern leftist ideologue trained in radical student protest movements, and appears less willing to pacify or mollify Trump.

“We negotiate as equals, there is no subordination here, because we are a great nation,” Sheinbaum said, while adding, “I think we are going to reach an agreement.”

But Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis of the financial group Banco Base, fears the personality clash could escalate things into brinkmanship; Trump clearly hates to lose.

“Trump may have just tossed the threat out there, as he does,” Siller said. “But Mexico’s response, that we’re going to respond to you with tariffs, that will make Trump really impose them.”

It’s not clear how serious Trump’s threat is. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement forbids just imposing tariffs on other member countries. And it’s not clear whether the economy could even tolerate sudden levies on imports: Auto plants on both sides of the border rely on each other for parts and components, and some production lines could screech to a halt

My high school history teacher said at the time, long before the berlin wall fell, the next world war will be US & USSR together against China.

He must have predicted China`s rise and maybe saw that Russia & US people have more in common that was reported in the middle of the cold war.

A new fly in the ointment; Elon Musk is against tariffs on ev cars; one of Musk's bigger markets for his Teslas is China plus he owns a large factory in Shanghai. Now that Elon Musk will be part of Trump's cabinet, I personally feel Trump will protect Musk's stake to make money in China and any action by him might cause a retaliatory response by the Chinese against Musk. I feel Trump is threatening tariffs because it sounds good to his base but something he won't actually carry out on.