Trump announces 25% tariffs on Canada, Mexico will take effect at midnight

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WASHINGTON — President Trump said Monday that Canada and Mexico have “no room left” for talks to avoid a new 25% tariff — with the duty set to begin at midnight alongside a new 20% tariff on Chinese goods.

“On the tariffs, is there any room left for Canada and Mexico to make a deal before midnight?” a journalist asked Trump at the White House.

“No room left for Mexico or for Canada,” Trump replied.

“No, the tariffs, you know, they’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow.”

President Trump said Monday that Canada and Mexico have “no room left” for talks to avoid 25% tariffs on imports. REUTERS

Trump added that the new tariff on Chinese-made goods would be 20% — double the amount he previously threatened — which White House aides subsequently confirmed.

China, Mexico and Canada are America’s top three sources of imports and collectively send almost half of all goods that flow into the US, meaning there is likely to be a noticeable impact on consumer costs.

All three major US stock indexes spiraled downward following the president’s announcement, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing off about 650 points — a drop of 1.5% — and the Nasdaq shedding more than 2.6% of its total, and closing down nearly 500 points.

Trump last month delayed the implementation of the 25% tariff against goods from neighboring countries when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rushed to reassure him they would crack down on illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling.

Although illegal immigration busts along the US-Mexico border hit a 25-year low in February, Trump said Monday he was still displeased with progress on stopping fentanyl, which can kill in extremely small doses.

“So you understand, vast amounts of fentanyl have poured into our country from Mexico, and as you know, also from China, where it goes to Mexico and goes to Canada,” he said.

Trump announced the tariffs would go into effect at midnight on Tuesday. AFP via Getty Images

China is the primary producer of the fentanyl that killed at least 279,000 Americans over the past four years, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data last updated in September.

Fentanyl wiped out nearly 0.1% of America’s population over that period by being sprinkled into a wide range of illegal drugs and counterfeit prescriptions, often killing unwitting and disproportionately young users.

Although Trump specified fentanyl as the reason for proceeding with tariffs, he also has described the measures as beneficial to American businesses.

Mike Guillen/NY Post Design

The president has enacted stiffer new tariffs on steel and aluminum — saying it was “the beginning of making America rich again” — while hinting at looming action on copper, lumber, pharmaceuticals and computer chips.

Trump also wrote on social media Monday that he would be adopting agricultural tariffs on April 2, which a White House official told The Post was a reference to his looming initiative to slap “reciprocal” levies on other countries, including European allies and Japan.

The president has dismissed concern about tariffs fueling inflation, pointing to low rates of increase in consumer costs during his first-term trade standoffs, particularly with China.

“We don’t need the products that they have,” Trump said Jan. 30 of Canadian and Mexico imports — adding a day later: “There could be some temporary short-term disruption, and people will understand that.”

Trump last month delayed the implementation of the 25% tariff against goods from neighboring countries

Fentanyl is smuggled into the US across land borders, where it’s often intercepted, and through the international mail and shipping systems.

The monthly number of US deaths has been declining since Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to do more to restrict exports at a November 2023 summit with then-President Joe Biden, but the compound still killed more than 55,000 Americans in the most recent full year of CDC data — equivalent roughly to the number of US deaths in the Vietnam War.

The Mexico-Canada tariffs are being levied under the president’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to target drug traffickers bringing fentanyl into the US.

The powerful synthetic opioid was the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, peaking with an estimated 76,282 deaths in 2023, according to CDC data.

That grim milestone coincided that year with the largest-ever number of migrant border crossings into the country, US Customs and Border Protection statistics show, with nearly 250,000 apprehended trying to enter in December 2023 alone.

In fiscal year 2024, border agents seized more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl coming from Mexico — enough to kill 4.8 billion people — while just 43 pounds were impounded coming from Canada.

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