The White House announced wide-ranging tariffs against the U.S.'s biggest trading partners: Mexico, Canada and China. At the last minute, both Canada and Mexico negotiated a pause. WSJ’s Gavin Bade unpacks the significance of the tariffs and the latest updates. Further Reading: -Trump Slaps Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China in Opening Salvo of Trade War -Trump Aides Hunt for 11th-Hour Deal to Dial Back Canada-Mexico Tariffs Further Listening: -Trump 2.0 A Whiplash on Federal Spending -Trump 2.0: A Fast Start to a Second Term -How One Business Is Getting Ahead of Trump’s Tariffs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
On Saturday, Trump's trade war began. His administration announced major tariffs on the country's three biggest trading partners, Canada, Mexico, and China.
So we're talking about 25% on Canada, 25% on Mexico. Those are our two biggest trading partners. With the exception of crude oil and energy products, they'll get a 10% tariff. That's our colleague Gavin Bade. And then a 10 percent additional tariff on all imports from China, which is our third largest trading partner.
So dollar for dollar, we're looking at a tariff action that is larger than anything Trump did in his first term. And he did it all in one day. I think he did more than even some people inside the White House thought he would.
When were these tariffs set to go into effect?
Tuesday, tomorrow, very, very quickly. So he promulgated them. He made the announcement on Saturday night after, you know, promising and getting everyone whipped up into a frenzy over the past few weeks. There was a lot of frantic lobbying around Washington, you know, Canadian and Mexican officials flying here, meeting with senior U.S.
officials, trying to convince them otherwise, saying, you know, we'll do anything to get around these tariffs. You know, what do you want?
Does this lead to a trade war?
It certainly seems that way. I mean, Canada and Mexico have said that they are ready to respond. Canada is going to slap tariffs on U.S. shipments, you know, the same day that we do. And Mexico has promised to do the same.
And actually, the Trump administration anticipated this, and they put a provision in these tariff orders that says if Canada, Mexico, and China hit back, then they're going to make the tariffs even higher. So you can really see how this could spiral into even more of a trade war than we're having already.
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