Gavin Bade, Anthony DeBarros, Vipal Monga, and Santiago Pérez of The Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. announced new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, aiming to address fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration. Canada and Mexico have vowed retaliation, with Canada targeting over $100 billion in U.S. goods. These tariffs could escalate tensions and disrupt trade across North America. They write:
The White House on Saturday announced a wave of tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, marking the first major levies of President Trump’s second term and laying the groundwork for a continental trade war.
Effective Tuesday, the U.S. will impose a 25% levy on imports from Canada and Mexico, a 10% tariff on energy products from Canada, and an additional 10% tariff on China.
The tariffs will be imposed under emergency economic authority never before used for tariffs “because of the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our Citizens, including fentanyl,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
There will be no exemptions to the tariffs, a senior administration official told reporters on Saturday, and the duties will be in place until the White House is satisfied that the trading partners have scrubbed out the illicit fentanyl moving into the U.S. The tariffs also include a retaliation clause that will increase penalties if the trading partners strike back at the U.S. with tariffs, the official said. […]
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that last fiscal year 21,148 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the southwestern border, the most from U.S. citizens coming through legal ports of entry. On the northern border, CBP reported seizing 43 pounds of the drug. […]
While the U.S., Canada and Mexico have a standing free-trade agreement, it isn’t clear that the expected tariff action would immediately violate that pact. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, like most trade pacts, includes a provision that allows for the imposition of tariffs on national-security grounds.
Some veterans of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada talks said Trump’s tariff move strikes them as an abuse of that loophole. The national-security emergency exception was meant for “break glass” scenarios, one person involved in the negotiations said, and if it is invoked at “the drop of a hat,” the overall pact is undermined.
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