US President Donald Trump has said that Americans may feel economic “pain” from his tariffs on key trading partners but argued it would be “worth the price” to secure US interests.
Mr Trump finally signed off on threatened 25% tariffs on neighbouring Mexico and Canada, despite sharing a free trade pact, and hit China with a 10% tariff in addition to already enacted levies.
He had vowed since before his inauguration to take such action, claiming the countries were not doing enough to halt illegal immigration and the trafficking of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States.
In imposing the tariffs, which are set to begin Tuesday, Mr Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The move provoked immediate vows of retaliation from all three countries, while analysts warned that the ensuing trade war would likely slow US growth and raise consumer prices over the short term.
“Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!)” Mr Trump wrote this morning in all-caps on his Truth Social media platform.
“But we will Make America Great Again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid,” he added.
Mr Trump and his advisers had previously resisted acknowledging that tariffs could raise US consumer prices after frustration over rising costs was seen as a major factor in his November election victory over Democrat Kamala Harris.
Apparently seeking to limit a spike in fuel and electricity prices, Mr Trump put the levy on energy imports from Canada at only 10%.
In a separate social media post, Mr Trump called again for America’s northern neighbour to become a US state, heightening tensions further with one of his country’s closest allies.
While claiming the United States pays “hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidise Canada,” he added, “Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable country”.
“Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State,” he wrote on Truth Social, claiming the move would bring “much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada – and no tariffs!”.
The US Census Bureau listed the country’s 2024 trade deficit in goods with Canada as $55 billion.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed that his country would hit back with 25% levies of its own on select American goods worth almost €103 billion, with a first-round on Tuesday followed by a second one in three weeks.
