US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China, demanding they stanch the flow of fentanyl - and illegal immigrants in the case of Canada and Mexico - into the United States, kicking off a trade war that could dent global growth and reignite inflation, Reuters reported.
According to the UK-based international news agency, Mexico and Canada, the top two U.S. trading partners, immediately vowed retaliatory tariffs, while China said it would challenge Trump's move at the World Trade Organization and take other "countermeasures."
In three executive orders, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and most Canadian imports and 10% on goods from China, starting on Tuesday, added Reuters.
He vowed to keep the duties in place until what he described as a national emergency over fentanyl, a deadly opioid, and illegal immigration to the U.S. ends. The White House provided no other parameters for determining what might satisfy Trump's demands, Reuters further reported.
According to the BBC, Trump regularly changes his rationale for tariffs - either to coerce diplomatic change, to deal with trade imbalances or to raise significant revenues.
A slide towards a wider trade conflict is very much on the cards, as President Trump prepares similar tariffs firstly against Europe, and then at a lower level universally, added BBC.
Meanwhile, Trump said the tariffs were necessary to “protect Americans”, Al Jazeera reported.
The Doha-based international news network further reported that Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum immediately ordered retaliatory tariffs and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would put matching 25 percent tariffs on up to $155bn in US imports.
According to Reuters, Trudeau warned U.S. citizens that Trump's tariffs would raise their grocery and gasoline costs, potentially shutting down auto assembly plants and limiting supplies of goods such as nickel, potash, uranium, steel and aluminum. He urged his own citizens to forego travel to the U.S. and to boycott U.S. products.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, in a post on X, said she was instructing her economy minister to implement retaliatory tariffs but gave no details.
Canada and Mexico said they were working together to face Trump's tariffs, added Reuters.
With tariffs threats being sprayed in multiple directions every day, the world is in uncharted territory, BBC reported. -- Agencies
