On the first days of President Trump’s second term, there were no official announcements on tariffs. However, at a press conference last night, US press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the president intends to impose tariffs for Canada and Mexico on February 1, 2025.
“All I can point you to is what the president has said on this front: the February 1st date for Canada and Mexico and also the China tariff that he has discussed.”
The new president reiterated to reporters that tariffs are coming on Canada and Mexico most likely on February 1.
“We’re thinking 25% [tariffs] on Mexico and Canada, because they’re allowing vast numbers of people to come in, and fentanyl to come in,” President Trump said during a recent press conference.
The US president clarified that he would impose “25% tariffs on each” beginning February 1st.
The US press secretary Karoline Leavitt also confirmed during the press briefing on Wednesday that the February 1st date for Canada and Mexico still holds.
“Again, he was asked and answered this question this past weekend when he took a lot of questions from the press, and he said that the February 1st date for Canada and Mexico still holds,” the press secretary commented.
President Trump also stated he plans to impose a 10% tariff on Chinese goods probably on February 1.
Karoline Leavitt responded to one of the reporters on Wednesday to the question if the China 10% tariff will go into effect on the same date: “The president has said that he is very much still considering that for February 1st,” she said.
During the press briefing on Wednesday there were questions from the press regarding the sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semiconductor computer chips. Donald Trump also discussed about steel, aluminum, and copper.
“When the president talked about that in his speech yesterday, that actually wasn’t a new announcement. That was within a presidential memorandum that he signed in one of the first days here in the White House on his America First trade agenda. So, there’s more details on those tariffs in there. As far as a date, I don’t have a specific date to read out to you, but the president is committed to implementing tariffs effectively, just like he did in his first term,” Leavitt commented.
President Trump also told reporters he intends to impose universal tariffs “much bigger” than 2.5%.
“All I can point you to is what the president has said on this front: the February 1st date for Canada and Mexico and also the China tariff that he has discussed. He rejected the 2.5 percent tariff. He said that was a little bit too low. He wants it to be higher. I’ll leave it to him to make any decisions on that front,” the press secretary added.
Before his inauguration Trump said that China will face an additional 10% tariff on its goods above any additional tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America, until it prevents the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. Trump also warned that he will charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States.
Canadian business leaders say Donald Trump’s threat to impose big tariffs on all Canadian goods would be a “lose-lose” scenario.
