United States President Donald Trump’s new 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada have taken effect, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20 percent, launching new trade conflicts with the top three US trading partners.
The tariff actions, which could upend nearly $2.2 trillion in two-way annual US trade, went live at 00:01 EST (05:01 GMT) on Tuesday, hours after Trump declared that all three countries had failed to do enough to stem the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the US.
China responded immediately after the deadline, announcing additional tariffs of 10 percent and 15 percent on certain US imports from March 10 and a series of new export restrictions for designated US entities.
Canada and Mexico, which have enjoyed a virtually tariff-free trading relationship with the US for three decades, were poised to immediately retaliate against their longtime ally.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa would respond with immediate 25 percent tariffs on $20.7bn worth of US imports, and on another $86.2bn if Trump’s tariffs were still in place in 21 days. He said previously that Canada would target US beer, wine, bourbon, home appliances and Florida orange juice.
“Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship,” Trudeau said, adding that they would violate the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement signed by Trump during his first term.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told NBC network that he was ready to cut off shipments of nickel and transmission of electricity from his province to the US in retaliation.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was expected to announce her response during a morning news conference in Mexico City on Tuesday, the country’s economy ministry said.
China tariffs
The extra 10 percent duty on Chinese goods adds to a 10 percent tariff imposed by Trump on February 4 to punish Beijing over the US fentanyl overdose crisis. The cumulative 20 percent duty also comes on top of tariffs of up to 25 percent, imposed by Trump during his first term on some $370bn worth of US imports.
Some of these products saw US tariffs increase sharply under former President Joe Biden last year, including a doubling of duties on Chinese semiconductors to 50 percent and a quadrupling of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to more than 100 percent.
The 20 percent tariff will apply to several major US consumer electronics imports from China previously untouched by duties, including smartphones, laptops, video game consoles, smartwatches, speakers and Bluetooth devices.
China’s new tariffs announced on Tuesday targeted a wide range of US agricultural products, including certain meats, grains, cotton, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
Reporting from outside the world’s largest wholesale market in China’s Yiwu city, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said the new tariffs came as China is “very keen to open up markets in the West, particularly in the US”.
“It is not being allowed at the moment, and it’s a real concern here,” he said. “The small traders in places like Yiwu live and die pretty much on these kinds of tariffs. They say the margins are already very small.”
Beijing also placed 25 US firms under export and investment restrictions on national security grounds. Ten of these firms were targeted for selling arms to Taiwan.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said the US tariffs violated World Trade Organization rules and “undermine the basis for economic and trade cooperation between China and the US”.
Trump’s additional tariffs on China came as the Asian country’s leadership gathered for “Two Sessions”, the annual closed-door meetings of China’s parliament and a separate political advisory body.
