US President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to impose tariffs on the European Union and China.
He said his administration was considering a punitive 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports because fentanyl is being shipped from China to the US through Mexico and Canada.
Trump made his latest tariff threats to reporters at the White House a day after taking office without immediately imposing tariffs, as he had promised during the election campaign, Reuters reported.
Financial markets and trade groups enjoyed a temporary lull on Tuesday, but his latest comments underscored Trump’s long-held desire for broader tariffs and a new deadline — February 1 — for 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as tariffs on China and the EU.
The US president has said the EU and other countries also have imbalanced and worrying trade with the US.
“The European Union is very, very bad to us,” Trump said, echoing comments he made on Monday. “There will be tariffs on them. That’s the only way… there will be equality.”
Trump said on Monday that he was considering imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico unless they crack down on the smuggling of illegal immigrants and fentanyl, including the chemical ingredient from China, into the United States.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNBC on Tuesday that Trump’s threat of tariffs on Canada and Mexico is to pressure the two countries.
“The reason he’s looking at 25, 25 and 10 [percent], or whatever it is, on Canada, Mexico and China, is because 300 Americans die every day” from fentanyl overdoses, Navarro said.
On Monday, Trump announced a crackdown on immigration, including a broad ban on asylum seekers.
He also signed a trade memorandum and ordered federal agencies to conduct a comprehensive review of a range of trade issues by April 1.
This includes an analysis of persistent U.S. trade deficits, unfair trade practices and currency manipulation among trading partners, including China.
Mexico and Canada have reacted in soft tones to Trump’s February 1 deadline.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would emphasize Mexico’s sovereignty and independence, and that she would respond to the U.S. actions “step by step.”
But she added that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement cannot be renegotiated until 2026, a comment aimed at preventing Trump from seeking an early overhaul of the pact that generates more than $1.8 trillion in trade each year.
