President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 percent tariff on China on Saturday.
According to a White House document on the order, the lone exception will be energy resources exported from Canada, which will still be subject to an additional ten percent tariff.
A White House official indicated to reporters the tariffs would take effect on Tuesday. The order regarding Canada, which was released to reporters as of this writing, takes effect at 12:01 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
A separate White House document detailing the tariffs points to the “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl,” adding it “constitutes a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).”
The tariffs will remain in effect “Until the crisis is alleviated,” per the document.
According to a White House official, the order also includes a clause giving the president the authority to expand its scope in the event of retaliation from these countries.
“President Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country,” the White House document shared with reporters noted.
The White House sheet notes that Chinese authorities have not taken “the actions necessary to stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels and shut down money laundering by transnational criminal organizations.”
It then zones in on an “alliance” between the Mexican government and drug trafficking organizations in the country:
The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims. This alliance endangers the national security of the United States, and we must eradicate the influence of these dangerous cartels.
Moreover, the document points to “a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada.”
A White House official said authorities seized enough fentanyl in Canada last year to kill nearly 10 million Americans.
Trump said on Friday that nothing could be done to make him reverse course from signing the orders on Saturday, pointing to the exorbitant amount of fentanyl deaths in America and trade deficits with all three countries.
