United States President Donald Trump has said that sweeping 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada will go into effect tomorrow, appearing to end weeks of speculation over whether the measures could be averted.
The announcement on Monday comes shortly after Trump administration officials suggested Trump could impose lower tariffs levels than previously threatened. But speaking to reporters from the White House, Trump appeared resolute in following through with the higher rate.
“Tomorrow – tariffs 25 percent on Canada and 25 percent on Mexico. And that’ll start,” Trump said.
When asked if there was any room for negotiation left, the US president responded: “No room left. The tariffs are all set. They go into effect tomorrow.”
Trump said he would also add on another 10 percent tariff on goods from China, on top of the initial 10 percent he put in place last month.
The US President has for weeks vowed to impose the 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, with 10 percent for Canadian energy. He has framed the threats as part of a pressure campaign to force both countries to do more to stem migration and drug trafficking into the US.
Trump had initially planned to impose the tariffs at the beginning of February, but delayed the move after both countries agreed to take certain steps on border control.
Speaking during her daily news conference earlier Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that Mexico had made a strong case for staving off the tariffs, but that it was ready to respond to any direction taken by Trump.
“So whatever his decision is, we will make our decisions and there is a plan and there is unity in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, meanwhile, told reporters the government was ready to respond with retaliatory measures.
She reiterated Ottawa’s position that Canadian countermeasures against US imports could total $106bn.
Canadian officials had previously drawn up a plan to target imports produced in strongholds of Trump’s Republican party before the tariffs were first averted last month. It was not clear if they would take a similar approach this time around.
CEOs and economists have warned the tariffs, covering more than $900bn worth of annual US imports from its southern and northern neighbours, would deal a serious setback to the highly integrated North American economy.
Speaking on Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had signalled that Trump may not impose the full amount of tariffs.
He told Fox News that Mexico and Canada have “done a reasonable job” of securing their US borders and Trump is considering what the final tariff levels should be.
“He’s sort of thinking about right now how exactly he wants to play with Mexico and Canada, and that is a fluid situation,” he said at the time. “There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate.”
‘The path that he’s chosen’
Trump has broadly vowed to reshape nearly all trade relations since taking office, claiming the US was being treated unfairly in its constellation of agreements across the world.
That has sparked fears of overlapping trade wars that could disrupt the global economy.
But Trump’s emphasis on Mexico and Canada has been particularly surprising, given the deeply intertwined nature of the three countries’ industries and economies.
In response to the threat, both Mexico and Canada last month announced a series of initiatives to meet Trump’s demands related to migration and drug trafficking.
That has included Mexico sending 10,000 National Guard troops to its shared border with the US. Last week, Mexico also extradited 29 drug cartel members to the US.
Among other measures, Canada has appointed a so-called “fentanyl czar”, despite US authorities seizing less than 20kg (44 pounds) of the opioid smuggled from Canada from October 2023 to September 2024.
Senior Canadian and Mexican officials also met with Trump cabinet members on Friday to discuss their response.
But on Monday, Trump adviser Peter Navarro said it was unlikely that Trump would waiver from his threats, despite concerns over domestic economic blowback.
“This is the path that he’s chosen,” he told CNBC.
