US President-elect Donald Trump’s dramatic late night announcement that he plans to impose hefty tariffs on the country’s two closest neighbours could dramatically backfire, harming Americans.
In a post to his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, US time, the 78-year-old said he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on products from Mexico and Canada, both US allies, and an additional 10 per cent tariff on products from China.
The reaction has been swift. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a hurried late night call to Mr Trump after fears the tariff move could spark a recession in his country. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has played tough suggesting her country may do tit-for-tat tariffs. While a Canadian premier said the tariff plan would be “devastating”.Mr Trump said the tariffs had come about because the countries weren’t doing enough to stop the drug fentanyl entering the US. He additionally criticised Mexico and Canada for the number of immigrants crossing the border.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” said Mr Trump.
“We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”The number of people crossing from Canada into the US illegally has always been far lower than those coming from Mexico.
But the numbers are now soaring. In the last 12 months almost 200,000 people have been picked up by US border patrol crossing the Canadian border. Two years ago that figure was 110,000. Although that’s still not even 10 per cent of the crossings from Mexico into the US.
Partly, the rise in Canadian crossings has been driven by a crackdown on the southern border – put in place this year by US President Joe Biden – which has seen illegal crossings plummet. Some of those people, many from Mexico itself, have headed to Canada instead where the border is more lightly patrolled.
Mr Trudeau said he phoned Mr Trump on Monday night.
“We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call.
“This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do,” he said.
Mr Trudeau indicated that Canada was willing to more aggressively tackle border issues.
Doug Ford, the premier of Canada’s largest province Ontario, was blunt. He said on social media that a 25 per cent tariff would be “devastating to workers and jobs in both Canada and the US,” and urging Mr Trudeau to “take the situation at our border seriously”.Mexican’s newly installed President Claudia Sheinbaum revealed a letter she was sending to Mr Trump warning him that inflation would rise, jobs would fall and tariffs work both ways.
She reminded Mr Trump that the number of migrants moving illegally across the border has reduced. From almost 2.5 million in 2023 it’s now down to around two million. Which is likely still two million too much for Mr Trump.Scott Bessent, the billionaire who Mr Trump named as his Treasury secretary last week, described tariffs as a “useful tool for achieving the president’s foreign policy objectives”. 
https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/us-politics/devastating-world-shocke... Trump threatens tariffs with Mexico and Canada for allowing this illegal immigrant problem and all of a sudden Mexico and Canada want to do more about stopping these illegal immigrants.
This is what happens when you elect a leader with a backbone things get done.
Trump hasn't started his second term yet and already Canada and Mexico want to do more to stop illegal immigrants.
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