U.S. trade partners warn Trump tariffs would harm all involved
Officials from Mexico, Canada and China warned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of imposing hefty tariffs on goods from the three largest U.S. trading partners would harm the economies of all involved and would risk aggravating inflation and damaging job markets.
In their initial round of responses to Trump’s surprise announcement on Monday for a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% levy on Chinese goods until they clamped down on illicit drugs and migrants crossing the border, leaders and other top officials urged dialogue and cooperation.
“To one tariff will come another and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said during a regular press conference. Sheinbaum said she planned to send a letter to Trump and would seek a call with him to discuss the issue.
A Bank of Canada official, meanwhile, said it was clear that any move by Trump to deliver on the threat would reverberate on both sides of the U.S. northern border.
“What happens in the U.S. has a big impact on us, and something like this would clearly have an impact on both economies,” Deputy Governor Rhys Mendes said during an audience question and answer session in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Earlier, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington said: “No one will win a trade war or a tariff war.” As of September, U.S. Commerce Department data showed the three countries had shipped more than $1 trillion of goods to the United States in the first nine months of the year, with Mexico ranking first, followed by China and then Canada.
