Trump threatens new anti-drug tariffs on ‘day 1’ for China, Canada, Mexico

The American president-elect uses his social media platform to flag another 10 per cent on all Chinese imports, citing fentanyl concerns

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President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to impose extra tariffs on Chinese imports as well as goods from the neighbouring US countries Canada and Mexico. Photo: AP

Mark Magnierin New York

Published: 10:20am, 26 Nov 2024Updated: 5:09pm, 27 Nov 2024

US president-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he will impose new tariffs on goods from China using an executive order on the first day of his administration, which starts on January 20.

In a series of posts on his media platform Truth Social, Trump said he would add another 10 per cent tariff to all Chinese imported goods on top of the tariffs already in place, a legacy of the US-China trade war that played out during his first term.

Trump also said he would levy tariffs of 25 per cent on all Canadian and Mexican imports in a bid to force the three nations to bolster border security and crack down on fentanyl shipments to the US.

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Trump threatens new anti-drug tariffs on ‘day 1’ for China, Canada, Mexico

“Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our country,” Trump posted.

“Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10 per cent tariff, above any additional tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States.”

It is not exactly clear how this latest threat dovetails with his campaign pledge to impose tariffs of up to 20 per cent on all imports and up to 60 per cent on Chinese imports. Canada, Mexico and China are the nation’s largest trading partners.

“I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular fentanyl, being sent into the United States – but to no avail,” Trump wrote.

“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” he posted about illegal drugs made with Chinese ingredients. “We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price.”