President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.
The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices on everything from gas to automobiles.
The US is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada as its top three suppliers, according to the most recent Census data.
Mr Trump made the threats in a pair of posts on his Truth Social site Monday evening in which he railed against an influx of illegal migrants, even though southern border crossings have been hovering at a four-year low.
“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,” he wrote, complaining that “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” even though violent crime is down from pandemic highs.
He said the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular, Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
Mr Trump also turned his ire to China, saying he has “had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail.”
“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,” he wrote.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington cautioned on Monday that there will be losers on all sides if there is a trade war.
“China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu posted on X.
“No one will win a trade war or a #tariff war.”
He added that China had taken steps in the last year to help stem drug trafficking.
It is unclear whether Mr Trump will actually go through with the threats or if he is using them as a negotiating tactic before he takes office in the new year.
Arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico have been falling and remained around four-year lows in October, according to the most recent US numbers.
The Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests in October, less than one-third of the tally from last October.
Much of America’s fentanyl is smuggled from Mexico.
Border seizures of the drug rose sharply under president Joe Biden, and US officials tallied about 12,247 kilograms of fentanyl seized in the 2024 government budget year, compared with 1,154 kilograms in 2019 when Mr Trump was president.
Mr Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, if confirmed, would be one of several officials responsible for imposing tariffs on other nations. He has on several occasions said tariffs are a means of negotiation with other countries.
He wrote in a Fox News op-ed last week, before his nomination, that tariffs are “a useful tool for achieving the president’s foreign policy objectives. Whether it is getting allies to spend more on their own defence, opening foreign markets to US exports, securing cooperation on ending illegal immigration and interdicting fentanyl trafficking, or deterring military aggression, tariffs can play a central role.”
If Mr Trump were to move forward with the threatened tariffs, the new taxes would pose an enormous challenge to the economies of Canada and Mexico, in particular.
They would also throw into doubt the reliability of the 2020 trade deal brokered in large part by Mr Trump, which is up for review in 2026.
Some Canadian officials attacked Mr Trump’s threat to impose sweeping tariffs.
The leader of the country’s most populous province called the US President-elect’s comparison of Canada to Mexico “the most insulting thing I’ve ever heard from our friends and closest allies, the United States of America”.
Ontario premier Doug Ford added: “I found his comments unfair. I found them insulting. It’s like a family member stabbing you right in the heart.”
Mr Ford said Canada will have no choice but to retaliate.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will convene an emergency meeting with provincial leaders on Wednesday. The Canadian dollar weakened sharply in foreign exchange markets.
Mr Trudeau said he spoke with Mr Trump after his threat of tariffs.
“We talked about the intense and effective connections between our countries that flow back and forth. We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call,” Mr Trudeau said.
