Trump Moving Ahead with Promised Tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China

By Jeff Mason, Doina Chiacu and Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods will take effect March 4 along with an extra 10% duty on Chinese imports because deadly drugs are still pouring into the U.S. from those countries.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the fresh tariffs on Chinese imports would stack on top of the 10% tariff that he levied on Feb. 4 over the fentanyl opioid crisis, resulting in a cumulative 20% tariff.

Trump first announced the new duties on Chinese imports in a post on his Truth Social site that he would impose the additional 10% tariff, effective March 4. 

In the post, Trump said drugs, namely fentanyl, were still coming into the U.S. at “very high and unacceptable levels,” with a large percentage of them the deadly opioid fentanyl. 

Trump told reporters he decided to add the extra tariffs on China and stick to the Tuesday deadline for Canada and Mexico given what his administration sees as insufficient progress on curbing fentanyl flows into the country.

Asked if Mexico and Canada had made enough progress on curbing fentanyl shipments into the U.S., Trump said: “I don’t see that at all. No, not on drugs.”

“There are ongoing discussions with the Chinese, Mexico and Canada,” a White House official told Reuters. “We’ve gotten a good handle on the migration issue, but there are still concerns on the other issue of fentanyl deaths.

Sources told Reuters that Mexico w…