brief- President-elect Donald Trump on Monday (Nov 25) pledged big tariffs on the United States' three largest trading partners - Canada, Mexico and China - detailing how he will implement campaign promises that could trigger trade wars.
Trump also outlined "an additional 10 per cent tariff, above any additional tariffs" on China, in some of his most specific comments on how he will implement his economic agenda since winning the Nov 5 election on promises to "put America first".
"On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 per cent Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders," he said in a post on Truth Social.
While migrant arrests reached a record during President Joe Biden's presidency, straining US border enforcement, illegal crossings fell dramatically this year as Biden instituted new border restrictions and Mexico stepped up enforcement.
More than 83 per cent of exports from Mexico went to the US in 2023 and 75 per cent of Canadian exports go to the country.
Trump's threatened new tariff would appear to violate the terms of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade, which Trump signed into law and took effect in 2020, and continued the largely duty-free trade between the three countries.
Canada and the US at one point imposed sanctions on each others' products during the rancorous talks that eventually led to USMCA.
Trump will have the opportunity to renegotiate the agreement in 2026, when a "sunset" provision will force either a withdrawal or talks on changes to the pact.
Canada said it was "essential" to US energy supplies and insisted the relationship benefits American workers.
"We will of course continue to discuss these issues with the incoming administration," said a statement from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Trump held a conversation with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after issuing the tariff threat, in which they discussed trade and border security, a Canadian source familiar with the situation said.
"It was a good discussion and they will stay in touch," the source said.
Trump could be counting on the threat of tariffs to prompt an early renegotiation of USMCA, said William Reinsch, a former president of the National Foreign Trade Council.
