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President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to hit the European Union with tariffs and said his administration was discussing a 10% punitive duty on Chinese imports because fentanyl is being sent from China to the US via Mexico and Canada.
Trump voiced his latest tariff threats in remarks to reporters at the White House a day after taking office without immediately imposing tariffs as he had promised during his campaign.
Financial markets and trade groups exhaled briefly on Tuesday, but his latest comments underscored Trump’s longstanding desire for broader duties and a new Feb. 1 deadline for 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico, as well as duties on China and the EU.
Trump said the EU and other countries also had troubling trade surpluses with the United States.
“The European Union is very, very bad to us,” he said, repeating comments made Monday.
“So they’re going to be in for tariffs. It’s the only way … you’re going to get fairness.”
Trump said on Monday that he was considering imposing duties on Canada and Mexico unless they clamped down on the trafficking of illegal migrants and fentanyl, including precursor chemicals from China, across their US borders.
Trump had previously threatened a 10% duty on Chinese imports because of the trade, but realigned that with the Feb. 1 deadline.
China said it was willing to maintain communication with the US to “properly handle differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation.”
It sought to promote stable and sustainable ties with the US, the foreign ministry said.
“We always believe that there is no winner in a trade war or tariff war. China will always firmly safeguard its national interests,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.
President Trump wasted no time signing a slew of executive orders on Day 1, including those that:
Direct DOJ not to enforce TikTok “divest-or-ban” law for 75 days
Halt 78 Biden-era executive actions
Withdraw from the Paris climate accord
End all federal cases and investigations of any Trump supporters
Revoke protections for transgender troops
Pardon about 1,500 people criminally charged in the Jan. 6 attack, while commuting the sentences for six
Overhaul the refugee admission program to better align with American principles and interests
Declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border
Designate drug cartels and Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations
Reverse several immigration orders from the Biden administration, including one that narrows deportation priorities to people who commit serious crimes, are deemed national security threats or were stopped at the border
Rescind a policy created by the Biden administration that sought to guide the development of AI to prevent misuse
Rescind a Biden-era policy that allowed federal agencies to take certain initiatives to boost voter registration
Rescind the 2021 Title IX order, which bans discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation in education programs that get federal funding
Revoke Biden’s recent removal of Cuba from US state sponsors of terrorism list
Order federal employees back to work in office five days a week
Order a federal hiring freeze, including exceptions for posts related to national security and public safety and the military
Direct every governmental department and agency to address the cost-of-living crisis
Restore freedom of speech and prevent censorship of free speech
End the “weaponization of government against the political adversaries of the previous administration”
Impose 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada as of Feb. 1
Reverse Biden sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank
Reverse Biden order requiring 50% of new cars sold in 2030 be EVs
Proclaim that there are two biological sexes: male and female
End diversity, equity and inclusion programs within federal agencies
Establish Department of Government Efficiency
Institute enhanced screening for visa applicants from certain high-risk nations
Reopen Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration
Order attorney general, secretary of state and secretary of homeland security to “take all appropriate action to prioritize” prosecution of illegal aliens who commit crimes
Withdraw US from Global Minimum Tax agreement
Institute a 90-day pause in the issuance of US foreign aid
Order the attorney general to pursue the death penalty for killing of a law enforcement officer or any capital crime committed by an illegal immigrant
Order the secretaries of commerce and the interior to restart efforts to route water from California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state
Withdraw the US from the World Health Organization
Order Treasury Department to explore creation of External Revenue Service
Revoke security clearances for ex-national security adviser John Bolton and 51 intelligence officials who said Hunter Biden laptop bore “classic earmarks” of Russian disinformation.
Declare the border crisis an “invasion” and order the attorney general and secretaries of state and homeland security to “take all appropriate action to repel, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged” in such
Formally rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and Alaska’s Mt. Denali to “Mt. McKinley”
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNBC early on Tuesday that Trump’s Canada and Mexico tariff threat was to pressure the two countries to stop illegal migrants and illicit drugs from entering the US.
“The reason why he’s considering 25, 25 and 10 (percent), or whatever it’s going to be, on Canada, Mexico and China, is because 300 Americans die every day” from fentanyl overdoses, Navarro said.
Trump on Monday announced a sweeping immigration crackdown, including a broad ban on asylum.
APRIL 1 REPORTS
Trump on Monday signed a broad trade memorandum ordering federal agencies to complete comprehensive reviews of a range of trade issues by April 1.
These include analyses of persistent US trade deficits, unfair trade practices and currency manipulation among partner countries, including China.
Trump’s memo asked for recommendations on remedies, including a “global supplemental tariff,” and changes to the $800 de minimis duty-free exemption for low-value shipments often blamed for illicit imports of fentanyl precursor chemicals.
The reviews ordered create some breathing room to resolve reported disagreements among Trump’s cabinet nominees over how to approach his promises of universal tariffs and duties on Chinese goods of up to 60%.
Trump’s more measured approach to tariffs fueled a rally in US stocks that pushed the benchmark S&P 500 index to its highest level in a month, though Trump’s new salvo on China and the European Union may deflate that momentum.
Trump likely “decided to go a little slower and also to make sure he has as firm a legal foundation as he can get for these kinds of actions,” said William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
“He’s figuring out how to best use his leverage to get what he wants.”
SOFTER TONES
Mexico and Canada struck conciliatory tones in response to Trump’s Feb. 1 deadline.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that she would emphasize Mexico’s sovereignty and independence and would respond to US actions “step by step.”
But she added that the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement was not up for renegotiation until 2026, a comment aimed at pre-empting suggestions that Trump will seek an early revamp of the pact that underpins more than $1.8 trillion in annual three-way trade.
Corn farmers are worried about US tariffs and retaliatory duties disrupting trade with Mexico, their top export customer for corn, and with Canada, the top export customer for US corn-derived ethanol.
“We understand that he is a negotiating type of person,” Illinois farmer Kenny Hartman Jr, board president of the National Corn Growers Association, said of Trump.
“We’re just hoping that we can come out of this where we don’t lose the exports – we don’t lose that corn going to Mexico or that ethanol going to Canada.”
