The inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump plays live on screens in the lobby of a building in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP
President Donald Trump said on Monday (January 20, 2025) that he expects to put 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on February. 1, while declining to flesh out his plans for taxing Chinese imports.
Trump made the announcement in response to reporters’ questions while signing executive actions in the Oval Office on his first day back in the White House.
Trump threatened tariffs of as much as 60% on China during his campaign, but appeared to temper his plans after a phone call last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said Monday there would be more discussions with his counterpart in the world’s second largest economy.
“We’re going to have meetings and calls with President Xi,” Trump said.
Trump is placing a big bet that his executive actions can cut energy prices and tame inflation and that the tariffs will strengthen the economy instead of exposing consumers to higher prices. But it’s unclear whether his orders will be enough to foster the growing economy with lower prices that he promised voters.
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Canada says it is ready to respond
Top Canadian ministers said Monday (January 20. 2025) that Canada will be ready to retaliate after President Donald Trump said he was thinking of imposing a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said they “will continue to work on preventing tariffs” but said they are also “working on retaliation.”
Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Trump can be unpredictable.
“None of this should be surprising,” he said. “Our country is absolutely ready to respond to any one of these scenarios.”
Canadian leaders earlier expressed relief the tariffs were not imposed on the first day of Trump taking office.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 75% of Canada’s exports, which include automobiles and parts, go to the U.S.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.
Trump blaming pandemic aid for inflation
Trump specifically blamed the inflation on the $1.9 trillion in pandemic aid provided in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden, while saying that his predecessor’s policies restricted oil drilling despite domestic output being near record levels.
“The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending,” Trump said in his inaugural address.
Orders on Monday included opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling and easing the regulatory burdens on oil and natural gas production. He also declared a national energy emergency in hopes of jumpstarting more electricity production in the competition with China to build out technologies such as artificial intelligence that rely on data centers using massive amounts of energy.
Trump also signed a directive telling federal agencies to conduct a 30-day review of how they can help to lower the costs of housing, health care, food, energy and home appliances as well as finding ways to bring more people into the workforce.
Published – January 21, 2025 09:50 am IST
