He justified his decision by the insufficient fight of these states against drug smuggling and illegal migration.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday night that one of his first steps after taking office will be to sign an executive order imposing 25 percent tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada. Tariffs will also increase by 10 percent on goods originating from China. He justified his decision by the insufficient fight of these states against drug smuggling and illegal migration. TASR informs about it based on a Reuters report.
Trump said tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico would remain in place until the two neighboring countries stepped up their fight against drug smuggling, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing the US border illegally.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily resolve this long-standing issue. We hereby demand that they use this authority and until they do, it is time for them to pay a very high price!,” Trump declared on his Truth social network.
In imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods, Trump also referred to fentanyl smuggling and called on China to address the problem. “Representatives of China told me that they would introduce the maximum penalty, the death penalty, for all drug dealers caught in this activity, unfortunately, they never followed through and the drugs flow into our country, mostly through Mexico,” the president-elect declared.
Reuters reminds that in the pre-election campaign, Trump pledged to impose tariffs of more than 60 percent on Chinese imports. It is a much higher tariff than during his first term.
