- Donald Trump has vowed to introduce a 25 percent tariff on goods coming to the US from Mexico and Canada.
- Returning president also promised to add 10 percent to the existing tariffs on goods coming from China.
- Trump says the new duties will remain until the countries reduce the amount of illegal drugs being shipped to America.
Donald Trump doesn’t slide behind his old desk in The Oval Office until January, but he’s already promising that one of his first jobs will be to introduce new tariffs on products coming from neighboring Canada and Mexico, and steeper duties on Chinese imports.
“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,” Trump wrote on an initial post on his Truth Social network.
Related: California To Reinstate EV Rebates If Trump Scraps Tax Credit, Just Not For Tesla
The president-elect says that the tariffs against the two countries won’t be removed until each nation tightens up its border security.
“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” he added.
And in a follow-up post Trump announced he would increase existing tariffs on goods coming from China by 10 percent for similar reasons.
“I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail,” Trump wrote.
Although a 25 percent tariff on goods coming from Mexico is much less severe than the 200 percent levy Trump had mooted in the run up to the election, the duties on goods coming from there and Canada could cause a major headache for automakers like Ford, GM, BMW and VW, who all make cars on the other side of the US border.
The Peterson Institute for International Economics says the tariffs imposed on imports from the three countries could cost the average US household an additional $2,600 (£2,100) a year, The Guardian reports. And, of course, it’s less affluent families that will feel the biggest impact of the price increases.
