United States President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to implement new tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada shortly after his inauguration on January 20, 2025. Trump stated that the tariffs aim to pressure these countries into taking action against illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the U.S.
According to Trump, an executive order will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada. Additionally, a 10% tariff will be applied to Chinese imports until China halts the smuggling of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid linked to thousands of deaths in the United States.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “It is time for them to pay a very big price!”
In a separate statement, Trump accused China of failing to fulfill its commitment to impose the death penalty on fentanyl traffickers. A Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington denied this claim, asserting, “The idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality.”
The spokesperson added, “China believes that China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature. No one will win a trade war or a tariff war.”
Fentanyl overdoses have become a critical issue in the U.S., with government data attributing nearly 75,000 deaths last year to the drug. The Biden administration has also called on Beijing to curb fentanyl production and export.
While Trump argues the tariffs will compel compliance, experts have raised legal and economic concerns. His proposed tariffs could potentially violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a trade pact he signed into law in 2020.
Mexico’s finance ministry responded, emphasizing the close trade relationship between the two nations. “Mexico is the United States’ top trade partner, and the USMCA provides a framework of certainty for national and international investors,” the ministry said in a statement.
Trump has long advocated using tariffs as a policy tool, threatening during his campaign to impose tariffs as high as 100% on Mexico and China. He also proposed revoking China’s most-favored-nation trade status.
Stephen Roach, a Senior Fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center of Yale Law School, noted, “It’s clearly consistent with his promise that he made during the campaign to utilize tariffs as a weapon to accomplish many of his policy initiatives.”
The international community and domestic businesses are now closely monitoring how these proposed tariffs might affect trade relations, economic growth, and the delicate geopolitical balance in North America and beyond.
