US President Donald Trump made good on his threat to impose 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports and 25 per cent on goods coming from Canada and Mexico, launching a potential destabilising trade war less than two weeks into his administration.
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Trump signed three executive orders late Saturday afternoon at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, launching the salvoes. The tariffs will take effect on Tuesday.
The White House said in a statement announcing the disruptive moves that the administration was drawing on emergency powers to counter the influx of opioids and other drugs that “threatens the very fabric of our society”.
“This was done through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because of the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our Citizens, including fentanyl,” Trump said in a posting on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all.”
The levy on imports of Canadian oil would be reduced to 10 per cent under the move, seen as part of a bid to moderate politically explosive prices at US gas pumps.
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The three nations are America’s biggest trading partners and together account for nearly half of all US imports.
While the announced import taxes are below levels of up to 60 per cent Trump said he would impose during his election campaign, they still sow uncertainty across vast swathes of the global trading system, analysts said.