Trump slaps tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, risking higher prices for U.S. consumers
The White House said on Saturday that President Donald Trump signed a tariff for goods coming to the United States from Canada, Mexico and China, which raised the threat of trade war with the closest commercial partners in America and threatens prices on everything from cars to avocados.
It is not clear when the definitions will become valid or what are the specific measures that the United States was looking for for the three countries that must be taken in order to raise the definitions.
“There will be a wide range of standards,” a senior administration official said during a call on Saturday with reporters about the definitions.
The official said: “In the Golden Age in Donald Trump, we will only face legal immigration and will get us to zero Americans die from the Chinese, Mexican Mexicans, and the oblique Canadian fentianil.”
The Canadian Energy Products Officer will have a 10 % less tariff in order to “reduce any sabotage effects that we may have on gasoline oil and home heating prices.”
Trump said that he imposes definitions because he claimed that the countries allow the Fintanel to come to the United States more than 107,000 people He died of an overdose of the drug in 2023, with approximately 70 % of those deaths of opiates, including fentanel. Trump also said that the customs tariff was in response to a trade deficit between the United States and the three countries because the United States imported it more than its export.
Economists across the political spectrum Expect the definitions of what consumers pay against a group of goods, including vehicles, electronics, products and wood. Definitions are paid by companies that import goods to the United States, similar to the tax.
While some companies will look forward to the source of the goods elsewhere, others do not have alternatives that will have to pay the fees. This means that American grocery stores will bear higher costs of fruits and vegetables grown in Mexico; House builders will pay more for Canadian wood. Auto companies will have to pay a tariff every time the component crosses the northern or southern border, which occurs over and over again during the production of one vehicle.
Companies will have to decide whether to pass these higher costs for consumers, which would put profits or require discounts to protect their margins. The effects of widely resulting throughout the American economy may be, partly due to the fact that US consumers and companies have imported more commodities from Mexico more than any other country.
Trump made definitions My position in his campaign To improve the economy that many voters were martyred The reason for returning it to the White House. He has argued that the fees will protect American industries from unfair competition by making foreign goods primarily and encouraging companies to manufacture in the United States, as he also suggested using revenues from customs duties to pay the price of other policy priorities and publish them as a negotiating tool.
“This is a beautiful and beautiful example of the promises he made,” the senior administration official said. “
But economists found that Trump’s tariff imposed on China during his first term did not do much to achieve these goals. Instead, they raised the prices of many imports, led to a clear loss of manufacturing Functions Lower Companies investments. Almost all revenues collected from the previous Trump tariff in China went to Payments Send to American farmers to compensate for their losses from the definitions imposed by China in response to this. The fees also did not generate major concessions from Beijing, which failed to meet many of its obligations under a commercial deal that was negotiated during the first period of Trump.
The most recent tariff for the President threatens Canada and Mexico to provide one of his distinguished commercial agreements, which is the United States, Mexico and Cananga Agreement. Trump had described the deal as a victory, as it has largely allowed products to move between the three countries free of customs tariffs, as they did for decades under the NAFTA agreement, which was replaced by USMCA. The current commercial deal is not for review until July 2026, but the new customs tariff can throw it in danger much closer.
This is not the change of other management work. “This is to change the work of his administration.
The White House said that Trump will issue a customs tariff under the Economic Forces Act of International Emergency. Despite UsMCA, Trump said he had a legal authority To organize imports during the state of national emergency, which is what Declare On the southern border on the first day of his second term.
While most Trump’s introductory threats have focused during his campaign on China, he has ignited his focus on Canada and Mexico since his election. Both countries pledged revenge, making American products less competitive within their borders and hurt American companies that sell there. Cars, oil, gas, electronics, industrial equipment and agricultural products are among the best American exports to Canada and Mexico.
“What we have seen in these types of circumstances in which the United States puts a tariff on another country. The lawyer for the American commercial actor during the Biden administration,” said Greta Bish, a commercial lawyer at Wayli Rin, who was a general of interest and sensitive sites. How our process works and what makes the potential effect. “
The large administration officials said that there is a “condition of revenge” in the executive order that issues definitions, as if any country chooses revenge on the United States, it will take more measures.
The trade war between the three countries would reduce the economic growth of all of them, but it may particularly affect Mexico, According to For the analysis by the Peterson Institute.
For Mexico, the tariff will be 25 % catastrophic. Moreover, the economic decline caused by customs tariffs may increase the incentives of Mexican immigrants to illegally cross the border to the United States – directly contradicts the priority of another Trump administration. ”
The American auto industry is among the most vulnerable effects of the effects of customs tariffs. For decades, their supply chains have been largely intertwined with American neighbors to the north and south. Since vehicles and components cross the border several times during the production process, 25 % of the fees can increase the car costs quickly.
The United States also depends on the agricultural products of Mexico, one of the senior suppliers of tomatoes, avocado, berries and pepper. High food prices It has been a great concern for consumers and voters, with the cost of grocery up about 25 % over the past four years – The Trump case is wearing the campaign’s path.
After its previous threats, Mexico threatened the retaliatory definitions on the American goods sold there, which the total About $ 360 billion. American companies that sell us to Mexican consumers can harm us.
Along with immigration, Trump and legislators have sparked fears that China can use a back puppet in the United States to avoid paying definitions. Mexico witnessed a leap In the manufacturers that are moving there from China as a way to avoid the definitions that Trump put on China during his first term. Investment deals announced by Chinese companies in Mexico over the past few years, According to the data It was collected by Rhodium Group.
Dustin Galbert, chief economist at Fastmarkets, said that the customs tariff in Canada is expected to increase Canadian wood prices, known as lighter and easier to work with it.
Canadian wood factories have already struggled with previous duties imposed by the United States in recent years and the destruction of millions of acres of forests from the invasion of pine beetle. He said that more definitions can raise the industry more.
“Consumers will pay for that in some capabilities because in the end, you have fewer supply in the market, and the prices will be somewhat higher on the margin,” said Galbert.
It can maintain pressure on home prices already Away from the reach of millions of AmericansThe National Association for Home Buildings to caution.
Definitions can also increase gas prices, because raw is among the best exports of Canada to the United States, with a disability Trump pledged the ambition of energy costs in half in his first 12 months.
