Trump announces tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China over their roles in border and drug crises
By isabelle // 2024-11-29
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President-elect Donald Trump has just announced that he will be placing tariffs on all goods coming into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada. He wrote on Truth Social: “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 explained that our two neighbors are not doing enough to stop the flow of drugs and crime across the border. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!," he warned. There’s no denying that 25% is a very hefty tariff, and if he does indeed follow through, it could have a considerable impact on the economies of these countries as they depend heavily on exports to the U.S. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Trump not long after he made the post. The leaders reportedly discussed border security and trade in a call that has been described as “productive.” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has already said that she will place tariffs of her own on goods from the U.S. to retaliate, something that could end up leading to more inflation. Sheinbaum, who has only been in office for seven weeks, said that tariffs would also cause job losses in both countries and that there is no sense in implementing them. She added that she is hoping to speak to Trump about the issue and pointed out that Mexico has been helping to stem the flow of migrants who make their way through Mexico into the U.S. Numbers have indeed been falling at the border since June thanks to a presidential proclamation signed by President Biden, but it remains a major problem. September saw the lowest number of encounters at the border since February 2021 at 101,790, but this still means that more than 100,000 migrants were trying to enter the country. The Canadian dollar dropped 1.2% against the American dollar, while the Mexican peso fell 2% against the dollar after the announcement.

China will also be hit with tariffs, Trump warned

However, Canada and Mexico are only part of the problem. Fentanyl and other drugs are also being sent to the U.S. from China, and Trump said that the CCP has not followed through on promises to curtail this. Therefore, he’ll also be implementing additional tariffs of 10% on Chinese goods. Illicit fentanyl is often created in Mexico with Chinese precursors before being smuggled across the border into the U.S. by Mexican drug cartels. In a statement, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said that China had been communicating with the U.S. about counternarcotics efforts and claimed “the idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality.” All of these countries will be greatly affected by these tariffs, and we can only hope that even the threat of them being implemented will be enough to get them to do something to fix the mistakes they are making when it comes to our borders. Sources for this article include: Revolver.news FoxBusiness.com CNN.com
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