Trumps stiff new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China take effect

New tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China went into effect Tuesday as part of President Trump’s effort to use trade measures to halt the flow of fentanyl into America – and Canada has already retaliated. Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products came into force at 12:01 a.m., a month after both nations were initially able to negotiate a pause on the implementation. A 10% tariff on Chinese imports Trump imposed last month also doubled to 20% on Tuesday.Trump implemented the levies after declaring the fentanyl crisis in America to be a “national emergency,” and using his authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose stiff tariffs with the goal of forcing Chinese officials to rein in the flow of precursor chemicals from China to criminal cartels that use fentanyl to manufacture deadly drugs for the US market.The president has argued that China, Mexico and Canada haven’t done enough to crack down on deadly and illicit fentanyl imports to justify pausing the tariffs. “Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.“A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China.”The president has also indicated that he aims to address the country’s trade imbalances and get more factories to relocate to the US through his tariff plan, charging that the country has been taken advantage of by its trading partners.  On Monday, Trump told reporters that there was “no room left for Mexico or for Canada” to avoid the new tariffs, which will tax Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity at a lower 10% rate.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Monday that he planned to advise the president that Canada and Mexico “have done a good job on the border, but they haven’t done enough on fentanyl.” “We really need to save American lives.

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