WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump vowed on Monday that on his first day in office he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods coming to the United States from Mexico and Canada.
“As everyone knows, thousands of people are pouring into Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and drugs to unprecedented levels,” Trump wrote in a post on the social media platform.
President Donald Trump thanked the fans at the Clyde Whirlpool plant on Thursday as he proposed a tax on companies that fill the washing machine market with cheap imported products.
Mr. Trump said that on January 20, in one of his first orders, he will sign all the necessary papers to pay a 25% tariff on all goods arriving from the US’s North American neighbors.
“This tax will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, especially Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens are stopped from Entering our Country!” he wrote. “Both Mexico and Canada have the full right and power to easily solve this long-standing problem. We urge them to use this power, and until they do, it is time for them to pay a very heavy price!
Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post that he will also impose an additional 10% tariff on top of the existing tariffs on Chinese products coming to the United States.
“I had many conversations with China about the amount of drugs, especially Fentanyl, being shipped to the United States – But it didn’t help,” he wrote. “The Chinese agents told me that they would give their maximum sentence, the death penalty, to any drug traffickers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never did.”
Trump said the tariffs on Chinese goods will remain in place until it stops allowing illegal drugs to pour into the US.
More: Mr. Trump vows to declare a national crisis, to use the military to deport more people
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump has threatened to crack down on illegal immigration at the US-Mexico southern border and stop the flow of illegal drugs into the country. He promised to declare a national emergency and use military equipment to deport a record number of illegal immigrants in the United States.
Despite Trump’s claims that drugs and crime are at unprecedented levels, violent crimes in the United States fell for the third year in a row in 2023, including murder, rape and assault, according to estimates released by the FBI in September. .
Trump’s decision to use tariffs as a weapon against illegal immigration and drugs could be a double-edged sword. Economists warn that imposing tariffs on goods sent to the United States could raise inflation and interest rates and lead to higher consumer prices. Tariffs are taxes on goods sent to the US from other countries. The tariff is paid by the importer, not by the country from which the goods are shipped. Importers often pass that cost on to consumers by raising the price of each product, making it more expensive.
More: Immigrant advocates fear Trump’s reforms will hurt one group the most: Children
During his first term as president, Trump escalated trade tensions with China by slapping tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese-made goods. Trump said he was trying to pressure Beijing to open up China’s markets to more American products and to protect the know-how of US companies. The two countries then signed a trade agreement that required Beijing to buy more American goods and to continue negotiations.
Mr. Trump was hoping to get a second trade agreement with China, but these plans fell apart with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Michael Collins closes the White House. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS.
This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump vows to impose 25% tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico.