Tuesday Trump’s big scheme of tariffs went into effect and all the chest thumping during his speech about the tariffs and now a couple of targets will retaliate….

There was no last-minute reprieve this time in regard to President Trump’s tariffs as three new ones took effect at midnight Eastern. A look:

• Canada: Trump imposed a 25% tariff on most imports. Canada responded by imposing 25% tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods immediately, a total it plans to increase to $125 billion by month’s end. Details on which goods are affected are still to come, reports the New York Times.
• China: Trump imposed an additional 10% tariff on products from China, on top of the 10% that went into effect last month. Beijing retaliated with tariffs ranging from 10% to 15% on a slew of American food and farm imports, including soybeans, meat, and grains, per the AP and the Washington Post. They take effect in a week. China also put new business restrictions in place against US companies, including the military-linked Leidos and General Dynamics Land Systems.
• Mexico: Trump imposed a 25% tariff on most Mexican imports. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is expected to lay out her nation’s response later on Tuesday morning, reports NBC News.
• Markets: US markets cratered Monday afternoon in anticipation of the news, and futures trading was “muted” ahead of Tuesday’s open, reports the Wall Street Journal. Europeans indexes dropped, as did Japan’s Nikkei, but China’s markets didn’t move much. Global auto stocks retreated, including Stellantis, Volkswagen, Volvo, Toyota, and Hyundai.

I remember just before the tariffs went into effect Trump told us the was no other option for there was ‘no room for negotiation’….and yet….

After two days of steep stock market drops, President Trump might be preparing to pull back on his 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday that Trump plans to “meet in the middle” with the two countries and an announcement will probably be made Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lutnick told Fox Business that he thinks Trump is “going to work something out with them,” but “it’s not going to be a pause.”

Lutnick and other officials have said the tariffs are linked to fentanyl coming across the border. “Both the Mexicans and the Canadians were on the phone with me all day today trying to show that they’ll do better, and the president’s listening, because you know he’s very, very fair and very reasonable,” Lutnick said. He cited the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact from Trump’s first term, Bloomberg reports. “If you live under those rules, then the president is considering giving you relief,” Lutnick said. “If you haven’t lived under those rules, well, then you have to pay the tariff.”

Trump paused the tariffs for a month after they were unveiled in February, but he said Monday, before the tariffs kicked in at midnight, that was “no room left” for negotiations. Canada and Mexico announced retaliatory tariffs on Tuesday, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling Trump’s tariffs “a very dumb thing to do.” Trump also doubled his earlier 10% tariff on imports from China, and Beijing responded with tariffs of up to 15% on American food imports. Lutnick, pointing to the country’s role in fentanyl production, said he didn’t expect immediate tariff relief for China, Politico reports.

The whole fentanyl is pure BS….tariffs are the only trick Trump has in his bag of whimsy….it is his excuse to use the only tool he has…..

When President Donald Trump imposed his long-threatened 25 percent tariffs on most goods from Canada and Mexico last night, the White House declared the trade barriers are necessary “to combat the extraordinary threat to U.S. national security, including our public health,” caused by “the flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl into the United States.”

The stock market promptly plummeted. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would respond with 25 percent tariffs of its own on $155 billion worth of goods from the U.S. (In a post on Truth Social, Trump fired back: “our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!”) China declared that it would impose tariffs of up to 15 percent on U.S. agricultural imports, and President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said her country would impose retaliatory tariffs as well.

Trump originally announced the new tariffs last month, but he agreed to pause their implementation when Canada and Mexico agreed to step up their border enforcement. (That order also imposed tariffs on China, which were not paused.) The White House noted in this week’s announcement, “While President Trump gave both Canada and Mexico ample opportunity to curb the dangerous cartel activity and influx of lethal drugs flowing into our country, they have failed to adequately address the situation.”

https://reason.com/2025/03/04/trump-loves-tariffs-fentanyl-is-just-an-excuse/

Fun times, huh?

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