by ZeroHedge News Staff at ZeroHedge
Update (5:00pm ET):
President Trump said he would plow ahead with new tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday, as expected, in the a broadside against the two biggest US trading partners that underscores his push to remake global trade.
“No room left for Mexico or for Canada,” Trump told reporters Monday when asked if the US’s North American neighbors could reach a deal to put off the duties, as they did a month ago. “They’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow.”
Later, the White House said Trump also signed an order doubling a tariff on China to 20% that will take effect shortly after midnight in Washington. The directive said Beijing had “not taken adequate steps” to address the flow of illicit fentanyl into the US.
The president’s remarks doused hopes of avoiding an all-out continental trade war; Canada is preparing its own retaliatory tariffs, and Trump has another round of levies set to kick in next week on steel and aluminum.
“We’re on the cusp of a North American trade war,” said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. “The markets have woken up to the fact Trump is serious about tariffs.”
The long-promised duties would easily be among the most sweeping of the Trump era, applying to around $1.5 trillion in annual imports. They would put a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, except Canadian energy, which would face a 10% rate.
Trump’s comments accelerated a sell off in US stocks,…
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