Donald Trump slaps tariff on China, Canada and Mexico

US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China.

Mexico and Canada, the top two US trading partners, immediately vowed retaliatory tariffs, while China said it would challenge Trump’s move at the World Trade Organization and take other “countermeasures.”

In three executive orders, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and most Canadian imports and 10% on goods from China, starting on Tuesday.

He vowed to keep the duties in place until what he described as a national emergency over fentanyl, a deadly opioid, and illegal immigration to the US ends.

The White House provided no other parameters for determining what might satisfy Donald Trump’s demands.

Responding to concerns raised by oil refiners and Midwestern states, Trump imposed only a 10% duty on energy products from Canada, with Mexican energy imports facing the full 25% tariff.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would respond with 25% tariffs against $155 billion of US goods, including beer, wine, lumber and appliances, beginning with $30 billion taking effect Tuesday and $125 billion 21 days later.

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Trudeau warned US citizens that Trump’s tariffs would raise their grocery and gasoline costs, potentially shutting down auto assembly plants and limiting supplies of goods such as nickel, potash, uranium, steel and aluminum.

He urged his own citizens to forego travel to the US and to boycott US products.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, in a post on X, said she was instructing her economy minister to implement retaliatory tariffs but gave no details.

Canada and Mexico said they were working together to face Trump’s tariffs.

China’s Commerce Ministry did not specify its planned countermeasures.

Its statement left open the door for talks between Washington and Beijing.

“China hopes that the US will view and handle its own fentanyl and other issues in an objective and rational manner,” it said, adding that Beijing wanted to “engage in frank dialogue, strengthen cooperation and manage differences.”

A White House fact sheet said the tariffs would stay in place “until the crisis alleviated,” but gave no details on what the three countries would need to do to win a reprieve.