Trump and tariffs on China to stop drug trafficking in the USA: what happens

Tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada. In un post su Truth social, Donald Trump anticipates that from the first day of his presidency he will impose tariffs on goods arriving from those three countries. “On January 20, among my first executive orders, I will sign all the necessary documents to make Mexico and Canada pay a 25% tariff on ALL products entering the United States, and on their ridiculous open borders,” wrote the president-elect of the United States, adding that they will remain in place “until drugs, especially Fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country.”

Tariffs against Canada and Mexico

According to Trump, “both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily resolve this long-standing problem…we demand that they use this power, and until they do, it is time for them to pay a very high price !”.

China and drugs arriving in the USA

Then the president-elect turned to China, threatening additional 10% tariffs until drugs stop “flowing into our country, especially through Mexico.” “I have had many conversations with China about the massive quantities of drugs, particularly Fentanyl, that are being sent into the United States, but to no avail,” Trump denounced. In the long post, the president-elect claims to have received assurances from the Beijing authorities that “they would apply their maximum penalty, that of death, to any drug trafficker caught doing this, but, unfortunately, they never followed up on their demand, and drugs are pouring into our country, especially through Mexico, at levels never seen before.”

Beijing’s reply

Beijing replies to Trump: “There are no winners in a trade war – the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, warned in a post on X – Nor will the world benefit from it”. Liu then assured that China “is ready to work with all parties to support true multilateralism, to build an open world economy, support sustainable development and unite countries to face challenges, achieve common prosperity and build a community with a shared future for humanity.”

The replica of Canada

Canada for its part reaffirms the importance of its relationship with the United States and its commitment to border control. In a joint statement, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc underline: “Canada and the United States have one of the strongest and closest relationships, particularly regarding trade and security of borders. Canada places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our common border.”

The two ministers therefore define relations with Washington as “balanced and mutually beneficial” and recall: “Canada is essential for the domestic energy supply of the United States and last year 60% of United States crude oil imports came from Canada”. Finally, the note reiterates the cooperation between Canadian and US law enforcement agencies “to combat the scourge of fentanyl coming from China and other countries”. “Naturally we will continue to discuss these issues with the incoming administration,” conclude the two ministers in the statement in which they never explicitly mention Trump.