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President Trump voiced his dissatisfaction with Canadian banking regulations and pondered over drug seizures in Mexico on Tuesday, just after imposing a 25% tariff on the United States’ neighboring countries in response to fentanyl imports that have caused the death of one in every 1,000 Americans in the last five years.
Shortly after midnight, Trump also imposed a new 20% tariff on products originating from China, a prominent hub for fentanyl production. He was set to discuss these significant trade penalties in his address to a joint session of Congress later that evening.
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump criticized Canada for not permitting American banks to operate within its borders while Canadian banks freely penetrate the American market. He questioned the fairness of this situation, highlighting his discontent with the current state of affairs.
In another post, the president shared a screenshot of a New York Times article that quoted a Mexican cartel leader who “says he’s trying to figure our how to protect his family in case the American military strikes inside Mexico.”
In a third message, Trump wrote: “IF COMPANIES MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES, THERE ARE NO TARIFFS!!!”
The president matter-of-factly said Monday that the tariffs would proceed after delaying their implementation last month.
The 78-year-old initially threatened the steep levies shortly after re-entering the White House on Jan. 20, saying that both Canada and Mexico had to do more to stop illegal immigration and fentanyl — and that China too must cease its exports of the lethal synthetic opioid that kills in extremely low doses.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rushed to appease Trump after the initial threat and illegal migrant encounters along the US-Mexico border hit a 25-year low in February.
Although Trump emphasized fentanyl smuggling in moving forward with the tariffs, he’s also broadly described tariffs as a way of boosting the economy by protecting American companies and incentivizing foreign firms to manufacture items in the US.
China, Mexico and Canada are America’s top three sources of imports and collectively send almost half of American imports — and Trump has acknowledged there may be a noticeable impact on consumer costs after inheriting stubbornly elevated inflation from former President Joe Biden.
The imposition of the tariffs has roiled global markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which shed 650 points at closing time Monday, was down another 774 points as of midday Tuesday.
Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, killed an estimated 334,000 Americans over five years, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data last updated in September.
Ontario premier Doug Ford threatened retaliation after Trump enacted the levies, saying, “If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything, including cut off their energy, with a smile on my face.”
Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro justified the new tariffs citing the death toll from fentanyl, which is smuggled across land borders and also through the international mail and shipping systems.
“Let’s say that you’re struggling to buy your prescription drugs. It’s Xanax, it’s Valium, it’s Vicodin, Oxycodone for pain, it’s Ambien to sleep. All of these things now are being laced with fentanyl — about 80 million fake prescription drugs received by the DEA in the latest year available that we have. Six out of 10 fake prescription drugs are laced with lethal doses of fentanyl,” Navarro said on Fox News.
“President Trump has said ‘no mas’ to Mexico, ‘no more’ to China — not going to happen on his watch. And right now, this is simply an action to stop Americans dying, and it just has to stop. Everyone right now in America is a fentanyl victim, because I’m sure you know somebody who’s had a son or daughter die, or know somebody who knows somebody.”