NEW YORK – President-elect Donald Trump threatened Monday to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tariff on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first laws.
The tariffs, if implemented, could raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to cars to agricultural products. The US is the world's largest exporter of goods, with Mexico, China and Canada being its top three suppliers, according to the latest US Census data.
Trump made these threats in several letters on his Truth Social site where he railed against the influx of illegal immigrants, even though fears of a southern border have been rising for nearly four years.
“On January 20th, as one of my first Executive Orders, I will sign all documents necessary to impose a 25% Tariff on Mexico and Canada on ALL products entering the United States, and ridiculous Open Borders,” he wrote, complaining that. “Thousands of people are pouring into Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs to an unprecedented level,” even though violent crime has declined due to the high epidemic.
He said the new rates will remain in place “until such time as drugs, especially Fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
“Both Mexico and Canada have the full right and power to easily resolve this long-simmering issue. So we want them to use this power,” he continued, “and until that time they use it, it's time for them to pay a very high price!”
Trump also fired back at China, saying that he “had many discussions with China about the large amount of drugs, especially Fentanyl, being shipped to the United States – But nothing.”
“Until that time they stop, we will impose an additional 10% tariff on China, on top of any additional tariffs, on all of their many products entering the United States of America,” he wrote.
Read more: How Asia Is Facing Trump's Second Term
It is not clear whether Trump will face these threats or if he is using them as a negotiating tactic before he returns to the White House in the new year.
Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent—who, if confirmed, would be one of the few officials charged with imposing tariffs on other countries—has previously said the tariffs are a negotiable option.
He wrote in a Fox News op-ed last week, before his nomination, that tariffs are “a useful tool to achieve the President's foreign policy goals. Whether it's getting allies to spend more on their defense, opening foreign markets to US imports, getting cooperation in ending illegal immigration and curbing fentanyl trafficking, or curbing military violence, prices can play an important role. “
Trump won the election in large part because of voter frustration with inflation, but his threatened tariffs risk raising the prices of food, cars and other goods. If inflationary pressures rise, the Federal Reserve may need to keep its benchmark interest rates higher.
Trump's threats come as illegal border crossings from Mexico continue to decline. The latest US statistics for October show arrests are at a four-year low, with the US Border Patrol making 56,530 arrests in October, which is less than a third of last year's October figures.
Meanwhile, arrests of people crossing the border illegally from Canada have been on the rise over the past two years. The Border Patrol made 23,721 arrests between October 2023 and September 2024, compared to 10,021 in the previous 12 months. More than 14,000 of those arrested at the Canadian border were Indians—more than ten times the number two years ago.
Last week, a jury convicted two men of human-trafficking-related charges for their role in an international operation that led to the death of a family of Indian migrants who froze to death while trying to cross the Canada-US border during the 2022 tropical storm.
Most of America's fentanyl is trafficked from Mexico. Border drug seizures have increased dramatically under President Joe Biden, with US officials having nearly 21,900 pounds (12,247 kilograms) of fentanyl seized in the 2024 federal budget year, compared to 2,545 pounds (1,154 kilograms) in 2019. when Trump was president.
If Trump were to go ahead with the threatened tariffs, the new tariffs would pose a major challenge to the economies of Canada and Mexico, in particular.
The Canadian dollar weakened sharply in foreign exchange markets immediately following Trump's post.
During Trump's first term, his move to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, and reports that he was considering a 25% tariff on the Canadian auto sector are seen as an existential threat to Canada. Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 75% of Canada's exports go to the US.
These costs will also cast doubt on the credibility of the 2020 trade agreement created in large part by Trump with Canada and Mexico, the USMCA, which replaced NAFTA and will be reviewed in 2026.
It's not clear from Trump's social media posts how he will legally implement the tariff hikes on these two key U.S. trading partners, but the 2020 deal allows for a national security exception.
Trump's transition team officials did not immediately respond to questions about what authority he would use, what he would need to see to prevent the tariffs from working and how they would affect US prices.
When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for example, announced billions of new jobs in 2018 against the US in a tit-for-tat response to new Canadian steel and aluminum tariffs.
Many US brands are chosen for their political rather than economic impact. For example, Canada only imports $3 billion worth of yogurt from the US every year and most of it comes from one place in Wisconsin, the home state of then-Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. That product was hit with a 10% duty.
The Canadian government, in a joint statement by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Minister of Public Security Dominic Leblanc, emphasized the close relationship between the two countries and said that they will discuss the border and greater economic relations with incoming administrations.
“Canada places a high priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border. Our relationship today is balanced and mutually beneficial, especially for American workers,” the statement read.
Freeland, who is the chairman of the special committee of the Cabinet on the relationship between Canada and the US to deal with the problems of another Trump presidency, said that the promise of the President-elect to present the mass deportation of people and the concern that it could lead to the influx of immigrants to Canada, is too high. focus of the committee.
Canada's top official had said before Trump's inauguration that Canadian officials expected him to issue trade and border orders as soon as he took office. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Economy did not immediately respond to Trump's statement. Usually such difficult issues are addressed by the President in his morning press conference.
Last week, China's top trade official said China's high export prices would backfire by raising prices for consumers. Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen also said that China can control the impact of this “external shock.”
—Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, and Fatima Hussein, Josh Boak and Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.
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