Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared on Fox News on Wednesday to warn neighbors that they are ready to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, unless the US tightens border security measures and effectively blocks fentanyl.
in Interview In a “special report with Bret Baier,” Lutnick said there is a slight chance that tariffs will be circumvented despite a 30-day negotiation period being provided to Mexico and Canada to demonstrate their commitment to these security measures. President Donald Trump’s ultimatum was clear, Lutnick said. They are either suspending trafficking of fentanyl and other harmful activities or facing serious economic consequences.
“The president is on that. So what he said is, if you don’t stop fentanyl, you won’t stop killing Americans, I’m going to slap you 25% tariffs and I’m going to teach you lessons,” Rutnick said. “So they quickly put their troops on the border. They started to stop it. We’ll see if they did a good job. We know. But then on April 2nd, it’s his turn to say that it’s fair to treat us fairly, and that’s his turn.”
“It’s reciprocal. How you treat us is how we treat you. And doesn’t it sound kind of rational?”
In dealing with the existing US-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA), Lutnick criticized Canada for describing it as side stepping on the transaction.
“So, when he said April 2nd, that’s the baseline tariff. That’s how you treat us, how you treat us. So, you think, OK, we have a USMCA, right? So, we’re supposed to have a free trade agreement with Canada, but they have a 5% national tax,” Lutnick told Baier. “They tax all dairy products. They tax so many different things. Wood. They tax our food. That’s outrageous. They basically trick the sides. Then when we don’t act, they stop cheating on the sides.”
Lutnick also criticized the involvement of Chinese companies in the Mexican steel industry.
“They fool the middle. And the president is sick and tired. He is sick and tired of the country adjacent to us who invites them to be their models in China. Who is the steel in Mexico? Do you think he’s Mexican? No, it’s a Chinese company. It has to stop,” Rutnick said. (Related: Howard Lutnick shares Trump’s plan to x IRS and move tax burdens to “outsiders”)
Trump was declared on February 1st Sweeping Tax Regarding imports from China, Canada and Mexico, after Trump’s announcement, it has curbed illegal immigrants and the influx of drugs like fentanyl to the United States, deploying thousands of troops on the US-Mexico border, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to strengthen US-Canada border security.
Trade tensions have widened as Beijing retaliated against Trump’s universal 10% tariffs and 10% tariffs on all Chinese goods that have tariffs on some US exports. In his first term, Trump began a trade war from 2018 by imposing multiple tariffs on China.
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