President-elect Donald Trump vowed Monday to impose tariffs of 25 percent on both Mexico and Canada on his first day in office as part of an effort to crack down on migration and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.”
The post did not specify how he would impose the measure, although he could theoretically tap the so-called International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which grants a president sweeping authority to control economic transactions after declaring an emergency. The move would immediately open up Trump’s tariffs to legal challenges.
Arturo Sarukhan, a former Mexican diplomat said the decision would violate the revised free trade pact between the United States, Canada and Mexico, known as the USMCA, and said the new tariffs would “put North American relations in a downward spiral” in a post on X. Trump himself signed the deal into law during his first administration.
Canadian officials in recent weeks have taken pains to present themselves as on the same page as the president-elect when it comes to Mexico’s supposed role as a conduit for China. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum played down concerns in public comments recounting her meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week.
In another post to his social media platform, Trump said China had failed to follow through on promises to institute the death penalty for traffickers of fentanyl: “Drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before.”
“Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs,” he said.
That suggests those tariffs on China could be in addition to his universal baseline tariff of up to 20 percent, as well as his 60 percent tariff on Chinese imports.
A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from POLITICO to clarify the total percentage of tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada.