President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada are set to go into effect at midnight on Tuesday, setting up a second economic showdown with America’s neighbors.
Trump’s administration delayed imposing 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods last month following last-minute concessions from both countries. Officials from both countries have carried out negotiations with the Trump administration in recent weeks, but no agreement to reduce the incoming tariffs has been announced.
Peter Navarro, the White House senior counselor on trade and manufacturing, defended Trump’s approach to tariffs on Monday. The White House has pointed to fentanyl and other drug trafficking across both the northern and southern borders to justify the tariffs.
“If you think about the problem, it starts in communist China with the precursor chemicals. It comes into Mexico and they make the fentanyl. But they also have these pill presses. So they do the counterfeits. And they’re using Canada as a transit hub and secondary point to manufacture as well. So this is a Canada-Mexico-China thing,” Navarro told CNBC.
WHAT ARE TARIFFS, HOW DO THEY WORK AND WHO PAYS FOR THEM?
Trump has also announced plans to double existing tariffs on China to 20% beginning Tuesday.
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON CHINA, CANADA AND MEXICO?
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that the tariffs are still set to go into place, but their severity is still up to negotiations.
“There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate,” Lutnick told Fox News on Sunday.
Canadian Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand met with U.S. officials in Washington in recent days, though no announcements came from the meetings. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Canada will retaliate with tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods if the 25% tariffs move forward.
Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has emphasized that “Mexico must be respected” in negotiations.
“Co-operation and co-ordination, yes, subordination, never,” she said at an event Sunday.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The implementation of these tariffs leaves open the possibility that American consumers could face higher prices for certain products if they ultimately take effect.
