Trump's tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico spark swift retaliation
President Trump's decision to impose blanket 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico prompted swift vows of retaliation from the U.S.'s immediate neighbors on Tuesday.
China, which was hit with a second 10% tariff on U.S. exports since Mr. Trump took office, bringing the total levy to 20%, immediately announced its own reciprocal measures — deliberately targeting America's agricultural sector, News.Az reports citing CBS news.
Below is a look at the measures being imposed or planned by Canada, China and Mexico, and the rhetoric coming from officials in those countries as Mr. Trump ramps up his trade war against one of America's biggest adversaries, and its two closest neighbors.
Canada announces reciprocal tariffs
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced immediate retaliation to the new U.S. tariffs in a statement late Monday evening. He said Canada would impose a $30 billion counter-tariff on goods imported from the U.S. immediately, escalating to $155 billion worth of American products within the next 21 days. Trudeau has said previously that Canada would target American beer, wine, bourbon and home appliances, along with Florida orange juice, with its measures.
"Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered," Trudeau said, adding that he was already discussing with Canada's provincial leaders various non-tariff measures that could be imposed if the Trump administration doesn't lift its tariffs.
"Because of the tariffs imposed by the U.S., Americans will pay more for groceries, gas, and cars, and potentially lose thousands of jobs. Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship. They will violate the very trade agreement that was negotiated by President Trump in his last term," Trudeau said.
Some of Canada's governors have pushed for a tougher response.
He said he had also asked officials in his province to end billions of dollars in contracts with the U.S. and to stop the import of American alcohol to Ontario.
"It's going to be an absolute disaster for both countries," he acknowledged in a separate interview with NBC News. "I don't want to respond, but I will respond like they have never seen before."
Mr. Trump has framed his tariffs on Canada as a response to what he says is the country's failure to stem the flow of both undocumented immigrants and fentanyl across the northern U.S. border — though very little of the drug enters that way, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.
In a message posted to his own Truth social platform early Tuesday, Mr. Trump also took issue with Canadian banking regulations, saying the country "doesn't allow American Banks to do business in Canada, but their banks flood the American Market," but providing no further context.
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