Canada and Mexico have vowed to hit back at US tariffs with tit-for-tat measures, after President Donald Trump followed through on his threats of general levies of 25% and began a trade war that’s set to reshape global supply chains.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country will impose 25% tariffs against C$155 billion (€103 billion) of US goods, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged retaliatory tariffs. China vowed “corresponding countermeasures” to Trump’s 10% levy on Chinese exports, without announcing any new tariffs.
The responses from three of America’s biggest trading partners came shortly after Trump signed orders for the US tariffs on Saturday. The measures take effect at 00:01 on Tuesday, and it’s unclear if that offers a last-chance window for a deal.
“It marks a new phase of the trade war, which targets multiple countries, including allies and China, to meet US economic and geopolitical policy goals,” said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis SA.
China’s Commerce Ministry pledged to file legal proceedings to the World Trade Organisation in a Sunday statement, but stopped short of explicitly threatening counter-tariffs. President Xi Jinping’s government has in recent months been treading carefully with Washington, avoiding any retaliation to trade curbs that could escalate tensions.
Trump’s tariffs deliver on a threat to punish the three countries for what he says is a failure to prevent the flow of undocumented migrants and illegal drugs, though he had also teased the possibility of a reprieve if Mexico and Canada took steps to address his concerns.
The Republican’s orders also included retaliation clauses that would increase US tariffs if the countries respond in kind. The new measures will be on top of existing trade levies on those countries.
Energy imports from Canada, including oil and electricity, will be spared from the full 25% levy and will face a 10% tariff. White House officials said that was intended to minimise upward pressure on petrol and home-heating oil prices.
Trump’s move is explosive in scale and goes well beyond his first-term tariffs. Steep tariffs will raise the cost of key goods like food, housing and petrol for Americans, while the overall fallout threatens to spill widely across the countries, which are the largest three sources of US imports, accounting for almost half of total volume.
Trump campaigned on a platform of extensive tariffs and he followed through, though dialling back planned measures on China while increasing them on his neighbours. Most mainstream economists and many business groups warn that trade levies will disrupt supply chains, raise prices for consumers already wary of inflation and reduce global trade flows.
Sweeping Measures
The move represents yet another instance where Trump is testing the bounds of his emergency authorities under federal law — already a hallmark of his second term in the White House.
The tariff orders invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and expand an earlier declaration to address what he calls a “threat to the safety and security of Americans.”
Markets have been gripped by uncertainty as they awaited Trump’s decision on the tariffs, and there are now looming questions about how the levies will impact stocks, as well as companies and consumers.
Carmakers such as General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV, which have global supply chains and massive exposure to Mexico and Canada, could see significant swings. Industry groups warned that because of the tight integration of US and Canadian manufacturing, the imminent tariffs could have a steep impact on the industry.
“The imposition of tariffs will be detrimental to American jobs, investment and consumers,” Jennifer Safavian, the president of Autos Drive America, said in an emailed statement. “US automakers would be better served by policies that reduce barriers for manufacturers, ease regulations that hinder production and create greater export opportunities.”
Trump’s actions also closed a loophole that exempted parcels worth less than $800 from tariffs. Extinguishing the so-called de minimis exemption for small parcels sent to the US from the three countries could significantly impact online retail — though the scope of the measure wasn’t immediately clear. While such changes would most directly affect Chinese retailers, American consumers who benefit from those platforms’ cheap goods would likely suffer, too.
The US loses a tremendous amount of tariff revenue by using the exemption, a US official told reporters on a briefing call.
Parts of the US, including the Pacific Northwest and Northeast US, are deeply reliant on electricity or gas flows from Canada. Under an energy emergency Trump declared his first day in office, refined petrol and diesel, uranium, coal, biofuels and critical minerals were all given the lower 10% tariff.
Oil industry advocates, however, have warned against even a 10% increase in the cost of crude inputs into Midwestern refineries that have few near-term options to substitute with US supplies.
Democrats wasted no time in pouncing on messaging around how the trade moves could impact families’ budgets. “These tariffs will be devastating for American consumers,” Congressman Greg Stanton, an Arizona Democrat, and some 40 colleagues wrote in a Saturday letter.
“Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada will make your life more expensive,” Stanton said more bluntly in a separate post on X.
Retaliatory Steps
Mexico was strident in rejecting the Trump administration’s allegation that it had alliances with drug traffickers, and suggested the US government curb demand and use of narcotics internally.
“Drug use and distribution is in your country and that is a public health problem that you have not addressed,” Mexican President Sheinbaum said in a post on X. “It is not by imposing tariffs that problems are resolved, but by talking.”
Mexico will also implement non-tariff measures, while calling for cooperation with the US on topics including security and addressing the fentanyl public health crisis, she said.
The Mexican economy could enter a “severe recession” if Trump’s tariffs remain in place for more than a quarter, according to Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Grupo Financiero Base. “If the tariffs last several months, the Mexican peso depreciation could reach record highs.”
Canada’s Trudeau said American beer, wine, food and appliances will be among the many items subject to Canadian tariffs, and his country is also considering measures related to critical minerals. He encouraged Canadians to buy locally made products and skip US vacations.
The orders enacting the tariffs do create a process to remove them. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem can inform Trump if the countries have taken adequate steps to alleviate concerns over migration and drugs, and the tariffs are removed if he agrees.
It’s not clear how realistic a prospect that is. Canada, for instance, already took steps to tighten its border to appease Trump, and it didn’t deter him.
In a speech Saturday night, Trudeau invoked Canada’s long history of partnership with the US. “We have fought and died alongside you,” he said, citing World War II, the Korean War and the recent war in Afghanistan.
“Together, we’ve built the most successful economic, military, and security partnership the world has ever seen,” Trudeau said, urging Trump to partner with Canada on their shared challenges.
