WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he would place 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on goods from China effective Saturday, raising the specter of swift price increases for U.S. consumers even though he suggested he would try to blunt the impact on oil imports.
Trump had been threatening the tariffs to ensure greater cooperation from the countries on stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl, but he has also pledged to use tariffs to boost domestic manufacturing and raise revenues for the federal government.
“Starting tomorrow, those tariffs will be in place,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier Friday. “These are promises made and promises kept by the president.” Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office later, Trump said there was nothing the three countries could do to prevent the tariffs from going into force Saturday.
The tariffs carry both political and economic risks for Trump, who is just two weeks into his second term.
Trump had said he was weighing issuing an exemption for Canadian and Mexican oil imports. He said Friday that he was considering a lower tariff rate on oil, but it was unclear if that lower rate would be in place when he signs the order Saturday.
″I’m probably going to reduce the tariff a little bit on that,” Trump said of oil. “We think we’re going to bring it down to 10%.”
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.
Trump has previously stated a 10% tariff on Chinese imports would be on top of other import taxes charged on products from the country.
The president also said more tariffs were coming, though he offered few specifics. “We’re going to put tariffs on (computer) chips, we’re going to put tariffs on oil and gas. That’ll happen fairly soon, I think around the 17th of February,” Trump said, also promising tariffs on copper and the European Union.
Both Canada and Mexico have said they’ve prepared the option of retaliatory tariffs to be used if necessary, which in turn could trigger a wider trade conflict that economic analyses say could hurt growth and further accelerate inflation.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that Mexico has maintained a dialogue with Trump’s team since before he returned to the White House, but she emphasized that Mexico has a “Plan A, Plan B, Plan C for what the United States government decides.
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