Trump will impose tariffs tomorrow and Canada: there is no “margin” to negotiate

The president of the United States, Donald Trumpsaid Monday that it maintains its intention to impose 25% tariffs on the products that Canada and Mexico export to their country and assured that both nations do not have “margin” of negotiation to avoid them.

“There is no room for Mexico or Canada, no. The duty They are ready and enter into force tomorrow”He said Trump to the press at the White House.

The president also explained that, as of this Tuesday, an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports will enter into force, which will be added to 10% already applied on February 4, thus raising the 20% tariff load on those products.

These measures against China are added to the levies imposed during the first mandate of Trump (2017-2021) about more than US $ 300,000 million in Chinese products, most of which are still valid.

As justification to move forward with the imposition of tariffs, Trump cited fentanyl traffic, a powerful opioid responsible for thousands of deaths a year in the United States.

“Huge amounts of fentanyl have entered our country from Mexico and, as they know, also from China, where Canada is sent”, Said Trump, who insisted that this drug “It arrives from Canada and from Mexico”.

The president assured that tariffs will benefit American manufacturing, especially the automobile sector, which was harmed by the transfer of jobs to other countries with the entry into force of trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during the 90s.

“It will be very expensive to take advantage of this country, steal money, jobs, our factories and businesses, and expect not to be punished. They are being punished with tariffs. It is a very powerful weapon”Trump said.

The president’s statements occur after his secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, indicated this Monday in an interview with CNN that Trump still had to make a final decision on tariffs to Mexico and Canada.

Initially, Trump had threatened to impose these tariffs on February 4, but decided to postpone its application for a month after Mexico committed to deploy 10,000 members of the National Guard on the border with the United States and Canada announced the appointment of a ‘Zar of the Fentanyl’, among other measures.

Delegations from Canada and Mexico met on Friday with members of the Trump team to discuss their efforts to increase border security and recover fentanyl traffic, as the president had demanded. However, these negotiations have not worked.

Currencies fall

The Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso fell after President Donald Trump confirmed that 25% tariffs on both nations products will begin on Tuesday.

The Canadian dollar fell to 0.5% to 1,453 and the peso yielded 0.9% to 20.75 against the US dollar on Monday, the lowest level from the previous tariff deadline for Trump, for the beginning of February. This caused the operators to sell the Canadian and Mexican coins. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index reduced a previous loss and fell only 0.4%.

The measures were taken after Trump told journalists on Monday that there was no room for Canadian or Mexican authorities to negotiate a suspension of taxes, whose entry into force is scheduled for March 4.

“The markets expected some concessions, whether another postponement or a tariff rate of less than 25%”Shaun Osborne said, the main Scotiabak exchange strategist.

With information from EFE and Bloomberg