
Trump announces new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China
CNN
President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China — signing them at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday.
President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China — signing them at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday. It’s a reversal of virtually duty-free trade between the three nations that’s existed for several years. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed the tariffs during Friday’s press briefing, saying they would amount to a 25% duty on Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on China “for illegal fentanyl they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans.” Saturday’s tariffs amount to a starting gun on what could escalate into a global trade war, with the potential for higher costs, disrupted supply chains and the loss of jobs. Even Trump acknowledged the potential for adverse consequences on American consumers. “There could be some temporary, short-term disruption, and people will understand that,” Trump said Friday when pressed by reporters on the cost of tariffs being passed on to importers, and, by extension, consumers. “But the tariffs are going to make us very rich and very strong — and we’re going to treat other countries very fairly.” Tariffs are one of the few policies Trump has consistently supported for decades, a rare through-line from his days as a New York developer to his time in public office (another is immigration). As a candidate, he swore he’d use tariffs — “the most beautiful word in the dictionary” — to wield US leverage abroad.