President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico and an additional levy on China on Tuesday, escalating tensions with key trading partners.
The U.S. began imposing a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico Tuesday, and an additional 10% levy on Chinese imports as Trump looks to curtail drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
Earlier this year, the administration delayed these tariffs to allow Canada and Mexico time to negotiate trade deals aimed at addressing U.S. border security and halting the flow of drugs like fentanyl.
Last week, Trump reaffirmed his decision to impose the levies, stating in a post on Truth Social that “drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels.”
“We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled,” Trump wrote, adding that “China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date.”
He also teased other tariffs launching April 2, but did not offer details.
TRUMP’S PROPOSED TARIFFS COULD DRIVE UP FOOD PRICES, EXPERTS SAY
Shortly after his restoration to power, the White House said Trump is working “to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.”
These levies are sending a message “that the flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl to the United States, through illicit distribution networks, has created a national emergency, including a public health crisis,” the White House said.
In January, while tariffs were temporarily suspended, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country would implement a $1.3 billion border plan and appoint a fentanyl czar. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to supply 10,000 troops on the border separating the U.S. and Mexico.
The 10% tariff on imports from China, which he blames for fueling the fentanyl crisis, had not been suspended, prompting retaliation from the Chinese government, which said it plans to take “respective countermeasures to reliably defend its rights and interests,” according to reports.
The Ministry of Commerce of China said in a statement that the “unilateral tariff hikes by the US seriously violate World Trade Organization rules” and that the U.S. needs to solve this problem rationally.
“The U.S. needs to view and solve its own fentanyl issue in an objective and rational way instead of threatening other countries with arbitrary tariff hikes. Additional tariffs are not constructive and bound to affect and harm the counternarcotics cooperation between the two sides in the future,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.
However, his actions against China are far lower than his initial threats he made during his campaign. Trump pledged a universal 10% to 20% tariff on imports from all foreign countries, along with an additional 60% to 100% tariff specifically on imports from China.
TRUMP’S TARIFFS WOULD DRIVE UP CONSUMER PRICES: NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION
Democrats and opponents argue that the cost of the tariffs would just be passed on to American consumers. Over the past several months, several retailers have raised concerns about the prospect of tariffs pumping up the costs of their products or even forcing them to cut back on inventory.
For instance, Dollar Tree – which has high exposure to China – warned that if tariffs are implemented, the company might have to change product details or sizes and even stop carring items altogether if they become too expensive.
A Walmart spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business that the company remains “concerned that significantly increased tariffs could lead to increased costs for our customers at a time when they are still feeling the remnants of inflation.”
Meanwhile, Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs also raised concerns that hiking the levies on products will drive up costs for everyday Americans.
David French, the National Retail Federation’s executive vice president of government relations, said the United States “needs a review of our trade relationships to be sure that those relationships are structured to achieve fair, balanced and effective outcomes for American workers and businesses.”
“Tariffs are taxes paid by Americans, and any new tariff tax increases should be methodically and effectively deployed toward only the most strategic goods,” French said. “Undertaking a strategic assessment of trade priorities is an important first step.”
FOX News’ Greg Norman, Anders Hagstrom and Reuters contributed to this report.
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