Friday, January 31, 2025
U.S. imports from Mexico and Canada could be zapped with 25% tariffs starting on Saturday
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| (Photo by Michael Urman, Adobe Stock) |
Unless Canadian and Mexican leaders move quickly, the United States will impose a 25% tariff on imports from both countries beginning Saturday.”Speaking from the Oval Office, President Donald Trump justified the tariffs as a response to what he described as excessive migration, drug trafficking, and unfair trade practices,” report Jim Wiesemeyer and Tyne Morgan of Daily Herd Management.
“While he suggested the tariff rate could rise further, he indicated that a decision on whether oil imports would be exempted would come soon. . . . Both Canada and Mexico vowed to respond with retaliatory measures.”
The steep tariffs are “intended to pressure the two countries into negotiating on migration, drug smuggling, and reforms to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” DH Management reports. “The strategy reflects Trump’s preference for using tariffs as a tool to secure compliance with U.S. demands, as seen in a recent, albeit reversed, threat against Colombia.” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for Commerce secretary, defended Trump’s tariff tactics during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Lutnick “repeatedly called for restoring ‘reciprocity’ in trade with other countries,” report Pro Farmer Editors for Farm Journal. “
Lutnick prefers ‘across-the-board’ tariffs rather than aiming them at particular products in a tit-for-tat exchange.”
Lutnick took aim at Canada’s treatment of U.S. dairy farmers and criticized their lack of access to Canadian dairy markets. He “vowed to secure better trade conditions under USMCA, which President Trump wants a renegotiation on an accelerated timeline,” Wiesemeyer and Morgan explain.
Within the U.S., hefty tariffs on the nation’s closest trade partners “could disrupt key industries, particularly the ag sector and automotive manufacturing, where supply chains depend on cross-border collaboration,” DH Management reports. “Critics warn of potential economic fallout, including higher consumer prices and a possible recession in Canada.”
