Canada and Mexico announced tariffs against the United States on Saturday in retaliation for a slate of new import duties President Donald Trump ordered against the U.S. neighbors and China.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada is working with Mexico to push back against Trump’s tariffs. Trump ordered increased tariffs on goods from Canada, China, and Mexico over lack of sufficient action against human and drug trafficking that has poured into the U.S.
“I think Canadians understand that we need to respond to this,” said Trudeau, who is expected to leave office in a matter of weeks after stepping down as his party’s leader. “We’re certainly not looking to escalate, but we will stand up for Canada.”
LIVE: Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs | EN DIRECT : Réplique aux tarifs douaniers américains https://t.co/JQ7HfwwCCW
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 2, 2025
Trump issued his own statement on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday condemning his critics and supporters of “the decades long RIPOFF OF AMERICA, both with regard to TRADE, CRIME, AND POISONOUS DRUGS that are allowed to so freely flow into AMERICA. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER!”
Trump ordered 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a lesser 10% tariff hike on Canadian energy imports. Trump also ordered a 10% additional tariff on Chinese goods. In return, Canada and Mexico announced their own 25% tariffs on a slate of U.S. goods.
Canada and Mexico are at a stark disadvantage in the brewing trade war with the United States, with their combined gross domestic product equaling about a seventh of the United States’. The United States also receives a significant majority of the exports from both countries, roughly three-quarters, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued her own statement on social media denouncing the tariffs and claiming that Trump falsely accused the Mexican government of having ties to criminal cartels.
Chinese precursor chemicals have flowed into Mexico where drug cartels manufacture addictive and deadly drugs such as fentanyl that is trafficked into the United States, the White House said.
“In addition, the Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico. The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims,” a White House fact sheet on Trump’s tariff order says.
Mexican drug cartels have a growing presence in Canada that is contributing to the flood of human trafficking and drugs that is surging into the United States as well, according to the White House.
