US President Trump Pauses Trade War with Mexico and Canada but not China
President Trump ©
By Fatoumata Jaiteh
On Saturday, February 1st, 2024, United States President Donald Trump signed a presidential order to increase tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China. The presidential order aimed to impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, but this has been suspended for a month. Meanwhile, the same presidential order imposing a 10% tariff on goods imported from China coming into the United States is reported to take effect today.
According to Reuters, “both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they had agreed to bolster border enforcement efforts in response to Trump's demand to crack down on immigration and drug smuggling. That would pause 25% tariffs due to take effect on Tuesday for 30 days.”
The new tariffs were set to take effect today, Tuesday, February 4th, 2025; however, in a turnaround of events, the U.S. has paused its tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
The latest report highlights that “Canada agreed to deploy new technology and personnel along its border with the United States and launch cooperative efforts to fight organised crime, fentanyl smuggling, and money laundering.” Meanwhile, “Mexico agreed to reinforce its northern border with 10,000 National Guard members to stem the flow of illegal migration and drugs.”
On the other hand, Reuters noted that “the United States also made a commitment to prevent trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.”
But President Trump was still in a bullish mood with China, whom he says “hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they're not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher." President Trump is set to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week. Meanwhile, China has called fentanyl an American problem and would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organisation and also take countermeasures.
It all kicked off on social media when President Trump took to Truth Social to announce that the tariffs on the tree countries "was done through the Intranational Emergency Economic Power Act." He added that the tariff increase on goods from these countries was because of the major threat of what he calls "illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our citizens, including fentanyl."
The U.S. President’s post stressed the "need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as a president to ensure the safety of all." Adding that he "made a promise on [his] campaign to stop the floods of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our Borders, and Americans overwhelmingly voted in favour of it," the post concludes.
“The agreements forestall, for now, the onset of a trade war that economists predicted would damage the economies of all involved and usher in higher prices for consumers,” highlighted Reuters.
“After speaking by phone with both leaders, Trump said he would try to negotiate economic agreements over the coming month with the two largest U.S. trading partners, whose economies have become tightly intertwined with the United States since a landmark free-trade deal was struck in the 1990s.”
In another move that may escalate the issue further, President Trump has highlighted his intention to issue sanctions on Europe, with the 27-member body also issuing it’s readiness to retaliate.
