(Adnkronos) – On his first day as president, Donald Trump relaunches the threat to impose 25% tariffs on the two countries bordering the United States, Mexico and Canada, starting February 1st. The move would constitute a huge upheaval in trade policy in North America and with two of the top three US trading partners, which could quickly lead to higher prices for consumers.
Last year, the United States imported $475 billion worth of goods from Mexico and $418 million from Canada, while the United States exported $354 billion to Canada and $332 billion to Mexico, a third of all U.S. exports for the year. The tariffs Trump is threatening to impose on the two countries will increase the prospect of retaliatory measures, which could hurt American industry. If implemented, the duties “would inflict a self-inflicted wound on the American economy,” Judge Glock, an analyst at the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute, told CNN.
In his inaugural address, Trump reiterated his intention to use tariffs as the primary tool of his international economic policy, regardless of the potential negative impact on US consumers. “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will impose tariffs on foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” the president said, confirming that the plan to impose tariffs on all products, which has raised alarm and criticism from many economists, remains on the table.
