Donald Trump tariffs: President-elect reveals tariffs for Mexico, China and Canada to fight immigration, drugs
President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all products coming from Mexico and Canada in a bid to stop what he says is an influx of illegal immigrants and drugs into the country.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said on January 20 he would sign an executive order to charge a 25 per cent tariff on products from the two countries, adding that he would also impose a 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods.
The news saw the value of the US dollar bounce.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Mr Trump said the influx of “illegal aliens” brought drug problems with it and the tariffs would stay in place until the issues were resolved.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price,” he said.
Mr Trump said the China tariff would help stop the “massive amounts of drugs, in particular fentanyl” being imported into the US.
“Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before,” he said.
“Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10 per cent tariff, above any additional tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America.”
The news had an immediate impact on the markets. Stocks were weak after strong gains globally in the previous session following fund manager Scott Bessent being nominated as Treasury Secretary, considered by investors as a voice for Wall Street in Washington.
“It’s almost as if Trump wants to remind markets who is in control, after nominating Scott Bessent as Treasury Sec — a man markets expected to cool Trump’s potency,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index.
The dollar jumped 1.5 per cent to 20.58 Mexican pesos early in the Asian day. It added 0.14 per cent to 154.43 yen.
The euro slid 0.4 per cent to $US1.0453 ($A1.6071) and sterling lost 0.24 per cent to $US1.25405 ($A1.92805).
The Aussie dollar slumped 0.6 per cent to $US0.6466 ($A0.9941).
Australia’s stock benchmark fell 0.24 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei futures lost 0.4 per cent.
— With AAP
