No room left’: Trump says 25% tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico begin on Tuesday

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Monday there was nothing Mexico or Canada could do to avoid tariffs of 25% on imports from going into effect on Tuesday as he’d previously threatened to impose.

“No room left for Mexico or Canada,” Trump said in the Roosevelt Room, after announcing a $100 billion investment in Arizona from a Taiwan semiconductor company. “The tariffs – they are all set. They’re going into effect tomorrow.”

Trump said tariffs were easy to implement, to prevent other countries from taking American jobs and money by relocating U.S. companies abroad and then selling products back to U.S. customers.

“It’s a very powerful weapon that politicians haven’t used because they were either dishonest, stupid or paid off in some other form,” Trump said.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that the country would respond if tariffs went into effect.

“We’re ready,” she told reporters Monday. “There’s a level of unpredictability and chaos that comes out of the Oval Office, and we will be dealing with it.”

Mexico has stepped up anti-drug efforts and sent thousands of troops to bolster border security in compliance with its promise to Trump. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, said Monday her government was calm as it awaited Trump’s decision, adding that Mexico would respond if tariffs were imposed.

“We have a plan B, C, D,” Sheinbaum said, declining to provide details.

The prospect of new economic barriers across North America sent stocks tumbling. U.S. stock indexes extended losses after Trump’s comments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.58% for the day, the S&P 500 was down 1.78% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.47%.

For example, a 25% tariff on liquor from Canada and Mexico could lead to a loss of 31,000 U.S. jobs, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. The U.S. imported $5.2 billion of tequila from Mexico and $622 million of Canadian spirits last year, according to the council.

“Tariffs on spirits products from Canada and Mexico will jeopardize the industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy,” Chris Swonger, CEO of the council, said in a statement. “We are concerned that Canadian stores may take U.S. spirits products off their shelves again and also fear that American whiskey will become entangled in a new round of retaliatory tariffs.”
Trump had paused the sweeping tariffs last month in exchange for agreements on border security from the United States’ neighbors to the south and north. But he complained drugs such as fentanyl have continued to pour into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, and the raw materials to make them come from China.

In addition to moving ahead on the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump signed an order Monday to charge China an additional 10% tariff on top of the 10% tariff he’d previously announced on Chinese imports last month.

Trump said tariffs were easier to impose than haggling with China or Japan over devaluing their currencies, which would lead to higher trade deficits with those countries.

Trump said China’s response to the 20% tariffs he plans to impose will help him determine whether to set higher import penalties.

“It depends on what they do with their currency,” Trump said of China. “It depends on what they do in terms of a retaliation, with some kind of an economic retaliation.”

Trump said manufacturers must build factories in the U.S. rather than in Mexico, Canada or China.

“What they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs,” Trump said.
Trump criticized his predecessors including former President Ronald Reagan for trade policies that didn’t include tariffs.

“I’m a huge fan of Ronald Reagan, but he was bad on trade,” Trump said. “He allowed a lot of businesses to be taken.”