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.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as former U.S. President Joe Biden looks on during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (January 20, 2025) took aim at electric vehicles, revoking a 2021 executive order signed by his predecessor Joe Biden that sought to ensure half of all new vehicles sold in the United States by 2030 were electric.

Biden’s 50% target, which was not legally binding, had won the support of U.S. and foreign automakers.

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Trump said in an executive order he was halting distribution of unspent government funds for vehicle charging stations from a $5 billion fund, called for ending a waiver for states to adopt zero emission vehicle rules by 2035 and said his administration would consider ending EV tax credits.

Trump to Environmental Protection Agency

Trump plans to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider rules mandating more stringent emissions rules that would require automakers to sell between 30% to 56% EVs by 2032 in order to comply with federal emissions rules, as well as parallel rules issued by the U.S. Transportation Department.

Trump said in his order on Monday he seeks the repeal of a waiver granted to California in December by the EPA allowing the state to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035. That rule has been adopted by 11 other states.

Trump said the EPA should terminate “where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles.”

Elimination of subsidies

His order said Trump’s administration should consider “the elimination of unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase.”

Trump said previously he could take other actions on EVs, including seeking to repeal the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation.

Trump campaigned on ending Biden’s “EV mandate,” without spelling out specific targeted policies. Biden repeatedly refused to endorse setting a date to end the sale of internal combustion engines.

Trump promised while campaigning to boost U.S. oil production, even as it has hit record highs, and to roll back Biden’s clean-energy initiatives, which also include subsidies for wind and solar power and the mass production of hydrogen.