(CLO) US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his proposed 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada will take effect on March 4, along with an additional 10% tariff on imports from China.
Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the new tariffs on imports from China would be added to the 10% he announced on February 4, making a cumulative tariff of 20%.
Mr. Trump told reporters that he decided to impose additional tariffs on China and keep the Tuesday deadline for Canada and Mexico because his administration believes there has not been enough progress in curbing the flow of fentanyl into the country.
US President Donald Trump. Photo: White House
Asked whether Mexico and Canada had made enough progress in curbing fentanyl shipments into the United States, Mr. Trump replied: “I don’t see that at all.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 72,776 people died from synthetic drugs in 2023 in the United States, mostly from fentanyl.
Customs and Border Protection officers seized 991 pounds of fentanyl (nearly 450 kilograms) at the southwest U.S. border in January 2025, down 50.5 percent from a year earlier, a White House official said.
So far, China has not entered into fentanyl negotiations with the US, instead imposing limited retaliatory tariffs of 10% on US energy and agricultural equipment.
China could react more strongly if new US tariffs go up to 20% on all Chinese imports — which totaled $439 billion last year, according to US Census Bureau data. Many of those imports were already subject to tariffs of up to 25% from trade actions during Mr. Trump’s first term.
In a letter to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, China said China and the United States should resolve concerns in the economic and trade fields through equal dialogue and consultation.
Meanwhile, Canadian and Mexican officials are expected to meet with their Trump administration counterparts in Washington on Thursday and Friday to try to avert tariffs that could deal a serious blow to the highly integrated North American economies.
In Canada, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said Thursday that the progress Canada has made in tightening security along its border with the United States and combating drug trafficking would please the Trump administration.
The Canada Border Services Agency said in a statement that it is launching a cross-border initiative to intercept contraband coming into and out of the country, focusing on fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
Hoang Hai (according to WH, Reuters, CNBC)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/my-muc-thue-25-voi-mexico-va-canada-them-10-voi-trung-quoc-sap-co-hieu-luc-post336440.html
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