Tariffs go into effect tomorrow for Mexico and Canada at 25 percent. President Trump is also eyeing an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports, which is in addition to the 10 percent added early last month.
Canada and Mexico are both leading trade partners with the U.S., and officials to our North have been watching the situation closely. They say President Trump’s threats have caused big backlash, leading retailers there to already begin demanding more Canadian products.
“The demand that we are seeing, and I use the word demand deliberately because that’s what our members are getting from consumers. They’re not asking for more Canadian; they’re demanding more Canadian products,” said Gary Sands.
President Trump’s tariff plan has already been met with positive response from ag lawmakers. However, Washington Congresswoman Suzan Delbene warns farmers are in danger of being caugh in the middle.
“What is being done to protect farmers? Are we not concerned about the massive retaliation against our farmers that a trade war brings? It always impacts agriculture. Are my colleagues, my Republican colleagues, in particular, going to allow President Trump to raise taxes on the American people without a say?”
The White House sees it differently. Speaking to reporters recently from the Oval Office, the President’s economic team said they just want trade to be fair.
“We want trade to be fair. It turns out that Americans have been disadvantaged by foreign governments over and over, and President Trump wants it to stop. The fact that struck me as most noticeable when I started to look at what President Trump was asking us to do is that last year, U.S. companies paid $370 billion in taxes to foreign governments. Last year, foreign multinationals paid us $57 billion in taxes,” said Kevin Hassett.
President Trump has previously said tariffs could be lifted if the other countries take stronger action on drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
