New Delhi: In a sharp response to US President Donald Trump’s order on Saturday to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, the two countries announced retaliatory tariffs on the US.
Trudeau urges Canadians to go local
Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that Canada will impose a 25% tariff on USD 155 billion worth of US imports in retaliation to Trump’s tariffs. He also urged Canadians to back local products and consider vacationing within the country. Trudeau announced that tariffs will be applied to $30 billion worth of goods starting Tuesday, with an additional $125 billion in products set to be taxed three weeks later.
Mexico’s strong response
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also announced that she has instructed her economy minister to implement both tariff and non-tariff measures to protect her country’s interests, following the US imposition of across-the-board duties on Mexican goods.
Taking to X, she wrote: “We categorically reject the White House’s slander against the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of intervention in our territory.”
Sheinbaum added, “If such an alliance exists anywhere, it is in the United States armories that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups, as demonstrated by the United States Department of Justice itself in January of this year. President Sheinbaum stated that if the US was genuinely concerned about addressing fentanyl consumption, its administration could have focused on combating the sale of narcotics in major cities.
‘Major threat’: Trump
Earlier on Saturday, Trump declared tariffs targeting key US trade partners, including Canada, Mexico, and China. Citing a “major threat” from illegal immigration and drug trafficking, he invoked emergency economic powers to impose the tariffs.
From Tuesday, Canadian and Mexican goods exported to the US will be hit with a 25% tariff, while energy resources from Canada will face a reduced 10% levy. In addition, China, already subject to tariffs, will face an extra 10% duty on its goods.
Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify the tariffs, citing the “extraordinary threat” posed by illegal immigration and drugs, including fentanyl, as a national emergency. The White House stressed that the aim was to hold Canada, Mexico, and China accountable for addressing these key issues.
