US President Donald Trump. Photo: Leah Millis/ Reuters
US President Donald Trump has announced that he intends to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico starting from 4 March. He announced this at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, Politico reports.
“Tariffs are being implemented on time and on schedule,” Trump said.
According to him, these measures should force Canada and Mexico to more actively combat illegal migration and fentanyl flows to the United States.
Initially, the duties were scheduled to be introduced on 4 February, but the president postponed them for 30 days after talking to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
As the new deadline approached on 4 March, journalists asked Trump whether Canada and Mexico had done enough to lift the tariffs. He evaded a direct answer, noting that “the United States has long been treated unfairly by many countries, not just Canada and Mexico.”
At the same time, Politico draws attention to the ambiguity of Trump’s statement. It is unclear whether he was referring to new tariffs against Canada and Mexico or to possible trade measures against other countries in general.
Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico, which export more than $900 billion worth of goods to the US each year, including cars, auto parts and agricultural products, have already announced possible retaliatory measures.
If Trump follows through on his threat, it could be the biggest trade escalation in the region since the signing of the new USMCA agreement that replaced NAFTA.
