President Donald Trump is keeping his promise to hit Mexico, Canada, and China with tariffs to pressure them to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and narcotics into the United States, with those nations responding in kind, according to multiple reports.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the announcement during a press briefing on Friday.
“On day one, President Trump declared a national emergency at our southern border to end the four-year-long invasion of illegal aliens under the previous administration. Additionally, President Trump signed an executive order to end catch and release and finish construction of his effective border wall. By using every lever of his federal power, President Trump has sent a loud and clear message to the entire world: America will no longer tolerate illegal immigration,” she said.
A reporter asked her if the tariffs would take effect immediately, which the press secretary confirmed.
“There was a report about that. He said he wanted ‘much bigger than that.’ Should we understand that these tariffs would add up? You know, in other words, you might have country-specific tariffs like Canada, Mexico, China. You might have sectoral tariffs, like on pharmaceuticals, as well as a potential universal tariff on top of that. Do these stack on one or the other, or would one sort of take precedence over another?” the reporter inquired.
“All I can point you to is what the president has said on this front: the February 1st date for Canada and Mexico and also the China tariff that he has discussed,” the press secretary said.
“He rejected the 2.5 percent tariff. He said that was a little bit too low. He wants it to be higher. I’ll leave it to him to make any decisions on that front,” she said.
Trump has placed a 25 percent duties on Canada and Mexico, and a 10 percent duty on China. They will go into force on Feb. 4.
“Do you have any comment on what the Mexicans and Canadians have done so far? Do you have any comment on whether that has met the bar of what he wants to see on fentanyl?” the reporter pressed.
“I won’t get ahead of the president, again, on advocating to foreign nations on what they should or shouldn’t do to get away from these tariffs. The president has made it very clear, again, that he expects every nation around this world to cooperate with the repatriation of their citizens. And the president has also put out specific statements in terms of Canada and Mexico when it comes to what he expects in terms of border security,” the press secretary said.
Later Saturday, Canada and Mexico also announced that they would impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States in response.
“The actions taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a Saturday evening press conference. “We were always there standing with you, grieving with you, the American people.”
“It is going to have real consequences for people, for workers on both sides of our border,” the prime minister continued.
“We don’t want to be here. We didn’t ask for this, but we will not back down in standing up both for Canadians and for the incredible successful relationship between Canada and the United States,” he said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum separately announced her nation’s tariffs.
“We categorically reject the White House’s slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory,” she said on X.
“If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious fentanyl consumption in their country, they could fight the sale of drugs on the streets of their major cities, which they don’t do, and the laundering of money that this illegal activity generates that has done so much harm to its population,” she said.
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