Trump confirms tariffs against Mexico and Canada will come into force as China slapped with additional 10% levy
Donald Trump has confirmed his proposed 25 per cent tariffs against Mexico and Canada will come into effect on March 4.
The 47th President, who will meet with Sir Keir Starmer later today, made the announcement on social media.
He also confirmed that China will face an additional 10 per cent tariff on the same date.
Slamming Mexico and Canada for its “unacceptable” inability to halt illegal crossings into America, Trump said: “We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on March 4 will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled.
“China will likewise be charged an additional 10 per cent Tariff on that date. The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
The sweeping tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada had been paused on 3 February for one month.
The Trump administration had recently created confusion about whether the tariffs would be reimposed when the delays expired.
Trump clarified the situation in a Truth Social post on Thursday morning.
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The 47th President explained that illicit drugs “are still pouring into our country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels”.
Border concerns continue to wreak havoc despite pledges from both US neighbours to boost their efforts to police their borders.
The President had previously paused the tariffs but now believes border security measures have been insufficient.
The decision marks a significant escalation in trade tensions with America’s closest trading partners.
Trump this morning declared that the European Union would face tariffs “very soon”, later claiming that the continental club was founded to “screw the US”.
Asked whether he had made a decision about imposing tariffs on the EU, Trump said: “We have made a decision, we’ll be announcing it very soon and it will be 25 per cent generally speaking and that will be on cars and all other things.
“The European Union is a different case than Canada, a different kind of case, they’ve really taken advantage of us in a different way.
“They don’t accept our cars, they don’t accept essentially our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not, and we accept everything from them, and we have about a $300billion deficit with the European Union.”