President-elect Donald Trump threatened on Monday to impose tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico as well as China that will remain in place until they stem the flow of drugs and illegal immigration coming into the United States
In a post to his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump indicated that he would begin his second term with a flurry of executive orders that would include tariffs on U.S. neighbors.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he said.
Trump added: “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. 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!”
With a second post, Trump took aim at China, promising a separate tariff that he said would remain in place until Beijing cracks down on drugs flowing to the U.S. He once again singled out fentanyl.
“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 said. “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, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before.”
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He continued: “Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Speculation about Trump reigniting trade wars had already sparked discussion about potential economic impacts. With his tariffs announcement on Monday, discussion got underway about the finer details of what the plan might entail.
As noted on X by Heather Long, an economic columnist for The Washington Post, there are “a range of tariffs currently on China,” and therefore it seemed that Trump’s “goal” would be “35%+.”
On X, there was a flurry of reactions to Trump’s tariffs ultimatum.
Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, for instance, said on X that using tariffs as a political and foreign policy “weapon” aligns with Trump’s “America First” agenda. Tech executive Elon Musk, who has been tapped to help lead Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), responded to the plan by quipping that the price of fentanyl will “rise sharply.”