WH: Trump Imposes Tariffs on Imports From Mexico, Canada, China (Connecting the Dots, Mexico, Canada, China, Apple, Tim Cook, Barack Obama, Obamacare, Sidley Austin LLP & Soros Funding, All Networking)

WH: Trump Imposes Tariffs on Imports From Mexico, Canada, China (Connecting the Dots, Mexico, Canada, China, Apple, Tim Cook, Barack Obama, Obamacare, Sidley Austin LLP & Soros Funding, All Networking)

Newsmax.com

Saturday, 01 February 2025 06:49 PM EST

https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/white-house-donald-trump-tariffs/2025/02/01/id/1197446/

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China — fulfilling one of his postcampaign commitments to voters that also carries the risk of sparking higher inflation and disrupting businesses across North America.

Trump declared an economic emergency in order to place duties of 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada — the United States' largest trading partners — except for a 10% rate on Canadian energy, including oil, natural gas, and electricity. The tariffs would go into effect on Tuesday, setting a showdown in North America that could potentially sabotage economic growth.

A senior administration official, insisting on anonymity to brief reporters, said the lower rate on energy reflected a desire to minimize any disruptive increases on the price of gasoline or utilities. That's a sign the White House understood as outside economists have warned that the import taxes if sustained could dramatically increase inflation, a possible problem for Trump as he promised to tame inflation after public unhappiness with price spikes under former President Joe Biden.

The order signed by Trump contained no mechanism for granting exceptions, the official said, a possible blow to homebuilders who rely on Canadian lumber as well as farmers, automakers, and other industries.

The White House said Trump's order also includes a mechanism to escalate the rates if the countries retaliate against the U.S., as they have threatened. Both Canada and Mexico have plans, if needed, to impose their own tariffs in response.

The Trump administration put the tariffs in place to force the three countries to stop the spread and manufacturing of fentanyl, in addition to pressuring Canada and Mexico to limit any illegal immigration into the United States.

The official did not provide specific benchmarks that could be met to lift the new tariffs, saying only that the best measure would be fewer Americans dying from fentanyl addition.

The order would also allow for tariffs on Canadian imports of less than $800. Imports below that sum are currently able to cross into the United States without customs and duties.

The Republican president is making a major political bet that his actions will not worsen inflation, cause financial aftershocks that could destabilize the worldwide economy, or provoke a voter backlash. AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate in last year's election, found that the U.S. was split on support for tariffs.

With the tariffs, Trump is honoring promises that are at the core of his economic and national security philosophy. But the announcement showed his seriousness around the issue as some Trump allies had played down the threat of higher import taxes as mere negotiating tactics.

The president is preparing more import taxes in a sign that tariffs will be an ongoing part of his second term. On Friday, he mentioned imported computer chips, steel, oil, and natural gas, as well as against copper, pharmaceutical drugs, and imports from the European Union — moves that could essentially pit the U.S. against much of the global economy.

It is unclear how the tariffs could affect the business investments that Trump said would happen because of his plans to cut corporate tax rates and remove regulations. Tariffs tend to raise prices for consumers and businesses by making it more expensive to bring in foreign goods.

Many voters turned to Trump in the November election on the belief that he could better handle the inflation that spiked under Biden. But inflation expectations are creeping upward in the University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment as respondents expect prices to rise by 3.3%. That would be higher than the actual 2.9% annual inflation rate in December's consumer price index.

Trump has said that the government should raise more of its revenues from tariffs, as it did before the income tax became part of the Constitution in 1913. He claims, despite economic evidence to the contrary, that the U.S. was at its wealthiest in the 1890s under President William McKinley.

"We were the richest country in the world," Trump said Friday. "We were a tariff country."

Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted on the social media site X that the tariffs "if sustained, would be a massive shock — a much bigger move in one weekend than all the trade action that Trump took in his first term."

Setser noted that the tariffs on China without exemptions could raise the price of iPhones, which would test just how much power corporate America has with Trump. Apple CEO Tim Cook attended Trump's inauguration last month.

Recent research on Trump's various tariff options by a team of economists suggested the trade penalties would be drags on growth in Canada, Mexico, China, and the U.S. But Wending Zhang, a Cornell University economist who worked on the research, said the fallout would be felt more in Canada and Mexico because of their reliance on the U.S. market.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians that they could be facing difficult times ahead, but that Ottawa was prepared to respond with retaliatory tariffs if needed and that the U.S. penalties would be self-sabotaging.

Trudeau said Canada is addressing Trump's calls on border security by implementing a $900 million border plan that includes helicopters, new canine teams, and imaging tools.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has stressed that her country has acted to reduce illegal border crossings and the illicit trade in fentanyl. While she has emphasized the ongoing dialogue since Trump first floated the tariffs in November, she has said that Mexico is ready to respond, too.

Mexico has a "Plan A, Plan B, Plan C for what the United States government decides," she said.

Trump still has to get a budget, tax cuts, and an increase to the government's legal borrowing authority through Congress. The outcome of his tariff plans could strengthen his hand or weaken it.

Democrats are sponsoring legislation that would strip the president of his ability to impose tariffs without congressional approval. But that is unlikely to make headway in a Republican-controlled House and Senate.

"If this weekend's tariffs go into effect, they'll do catastrophic damage to our relationships with our allies and raise costs for working families by hundreds of dollars a year," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. "Congress needs to stop this from happening again."

Connecting the Dots:

Sidley Austin LLP was a consulting firm for Canada.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP and Obamacare is his signature policy initiative.

Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.

CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.

David L. Johnston was a director at the CGI Group Inc. and is the governor general for Canada.

Donna S. Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc. and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Committee for Economic Development and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

J. Stapleton Roy is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and was a U.S. ambassador for China.

Jon M. Huntsman Jr. was an ambassador to China for the Barack Obama administration and is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a board member for the International Crisis Group and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Ernesto Zedillo was a board member for the International Crisis Group and was the president of Mexico.

Carlos Pascual was a U.S. ambassador for Mexico and a VP for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), John F. Kerry’s brother and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Sidley Austin LLP was a consulting firm for Canada.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP and Obamacare is his signature policy initiative.

Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.

CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.

David L. Johnston was a director at the CGI Group Inc. and is the governor general for Canada.

Donna S. Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc. and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Committee for Economic Development and the Climate Reality Project.

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

The Climate Project is a merged organization with the Climate Reality Project.

Albert A. Gore Jr. was a donor for The Climate Project, is the chairman for the Climate Reality Project, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a director at Apple Inc.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers was a donor for The Climate Project.

Thomas J. Perkins is a partner emeritus for Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and was a director at the Compaq Computer Corporation.

Timothy D. Cook is a VP for the Compaq Computer Corporation and the CEO for Apple Inc.

Resources: Past Research

Canada's Stephen Harper 1st Western Leader to Meet New Ukrainian President After Inauguration (Past Research on Canada)

Sunday, June 8, 2014

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2014/06/canadas-stephen-harper-1st-western.html

Chinese Crash Crushes Stock Market as Obama Imitates Chinese Economy (Past Research on China)

Monday, August 24, 2015

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2015/08/chinese-crash-crushes-stock-market-as.html

John Kerry: China Deploying Massive "Renewable Power" To Fight Climate Change, We Should Cooperate (Connecting the Dots) (Past Research on China)

Friday, September 30, 2022

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2022/09/john-kerry-china-deploying-massive.html

US government workers told to shelter in place amid surge in Tijuana violence, cartel threatens 'mass chaos' (Connecting the Dots: Mexico & Soros) (Past Research on Mexico)

Sunday, August 14, 2022

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2022/08/us-government-workers-told-to-shelter.html

Smaller Bites – Tim Cook (Connecting the Dots: Tim Cook, Apple Inc., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers & Soros Funded Climate Reality Project, All Networking) (Past Research on Tim Cook & Apple Inc)

Monday, November 28, 2022

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2022/11/smaller-bites-tim-cook-connecting-dots.html