Donald Trump to hit Canada, Mexico with 25% tariffs, says still considering whether to…
Donald Trump plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico but is undecided on oil exemptions. The tariffs aim to address illegal migration and fentanyl issues.
US President Donald Trump said he would follow through on his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on February 1. However, the US president did suggest he was still considering if one significant import — oil — would be exempted. Trump said would be making a determination as soon as Thursday evening, basing his decision upon the price of oil.
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“We don’t need the products that they have. We have all the oil that you need. We have all the trees you need,” Trump said referring to major imports from Canada.
The United States imported almost 4.6 million barrels of oil daily from Canada in October and 563,000 barrels from Mexico, according to the Energy Information Administration. U.S. daily production during that month averaged nearly 13.5 million barrels a day.
"We may or may not. We're going to make that determination probably tonight," Trump said about whether he would impose tariffs on Canadian and Mexican oil. He added that this would partly depend on prices and on whether the two countries “treat us properly.”
Reasons given by Trump on tariffs on Canada and Mexico
“We’ll be announcing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a number of reasons”
“Number one is the people that have poured into our country so horribly and so much. Number two are the drugs, fentanyl and everything else that have come into the country. Number three are the massive subsidies that we’re giving to Canada and to Mexico in the form of deficits,” he said.
Trump on tariffs on China
The US President also indicated that he would proceed with tariffs on China. Though he didn’t specify the levy, he had previously said it would be 10 percent.
"With China I'm also thinking about something because they're sending fentanyl into our country and because of that they're causing us hundreds of thousands of deaths, so China is going to end up paying a tariff also for that and we're in the process of doing that," Trump told reporters.
“We'll make a determination on what it's going to be, but China has to stop sending fentanyl into our country and killing our people.”
(With inputs from Reuters and Bloomberg)