Canada will evaluate imposing its own duty a American products in response to recent promises of Donald Trump to add a 25% rate on goods coming from this country and Mexico.
“On January 20, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all the necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on ALL products entering the United States, and their ridiculous Open Borders. As everyone knows, thousands of people are crossing Mexico and Canada, bringing crime and drugs to levels never seen before,” the US president-elect wrote this week on his social networks, advancing one of his main promises about neighboring nations.
The news, which many do not consider a real threat but rather a way to apply pressure, was received with great discontent in Ottawa, which warned of taking its own measures.
“When Donald Trump makes these statements, he intends to execute them. There are no doubts”the prime minister began by saying Justin Trudeau who then pointed out that the measure would break the T-MECthe agreement of free trade that the Republican himself promoted during his first presidency, and would hurt the US economy, which Trump promised to recover.
“Our responsibility is to point out that not only would be hurting Canadians, who work so well with the United Statesbut also would increase prices for US citizens and hurt US industry“added Trudeau who, however, assured that They can still work together as they did before.
Washington and Ottawa have been part, since 2020, of a free trade agreement, which also includes Mexico, and which promoted the exchange of goods between these important business partners. In fact, thanks to this, more than three quarters of Canadian exports in 2023 – equivalent to about USD 423,000 million– responded to shipments to the United States.
However, during his presidential campaign – and even more so after winning in November – the Republican questioned the continuity of the agreement, whose review is scheduled for 2026, in an attempt to penalize his neighbors for their lax policies that allow the entry of irregular migrants y drug in the United States.
Petros Mavroidis, a professor at Columbia University, said that the position taken by Trump on this issue “is crazy,” especially in the case of Canada, since “It is the closest and oldest ally of the United States”. “Trump takes the risk of confronting his allies”he added.
In that same sense, Erin Murphy, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, argued that, if he implemented his project, which also includes a tariff on China, Trump would reveal that “there is no difference” between allies and rivalswhich could condition its relations with third countries.
This week, Trump spoke with the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaumafter which the president removed tension from the matter. “There is not going to be a potential tariff war with the United States. “We do not talk about tariffs, it was no longer raised that way.”said Sheinbaum, although without providing further details.
Joe Bidenfor his part, used his final weeks in office to dissuade his successor from taking actions that could harm the nation. “We are surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and two allies, Mexico and Canada. The last thing we need is to start ruining those relationships. I hope (Trump) reconsiders, I think it is counterproductive.“, he declared the day before.
(With information from AFP)
