Stock markets tanked Monday after US president Donald Trump vowed to press on with crippling tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Monday.
At a press briefing, Trump vowed to impose the full 25% tariff — and 10% on energy — on its NAFTA 2.0 partners starting tomorrow, Tuesday March 3.
“(There’s) no room left for Mexico or for Canada, no,” Trump said.
The comments immediately sent stock markets tumbling on what was already a down day for markets.
At 4:45 p.m. MST the Dow Jones was down 900 points, dropping more than 400 points in 15 minutes. It finished at 43,191.24 off 650 point or 1.5% on the day. The TSX meanwhile, was off 391.88 points to 25,001.57.
Trump made his first round of tariffs conditional on stopping the flow of fentanyl across both the northern and southern borders and claimed on Monday that it continues to pour into the county.
That’s despite Canada spending more than $billion on border security measures and appointing ex-RCMP leader Kevin Brosseau as the border ‘czar’.
But Trump is expected to say that it still isn’t enough.
“The president has to say, ‘I appreciate what you have accomplished, but you haven’t accomplished enough and that’s what we’re going to be talking about all day today,” Trump’s commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told CNN.
“I’ll be sitting across the table from the president pointing out that they have done a good job, but they haven’t done enough on fentanyl and he’s got to decide how he wants to play it.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was flying back from London where he met with King Charles III to talk about Trump’s repeated claims to annex Canada as the 51st State.
Details of the meeting weren’t disclosed, but Charles is technically Canada’s head of state as the leader of the British Crown.
Trudeau has vowed to retaliate if Trump follows through on his threats.
Last month, after Trump signed his executive order to impose 25 per cent universal tariffs on Canadian imports — 10% on energy — Trudeau announced plans to slap 25% counter trade levies on $155-billion worth of American goods.
Trump then vowed to impose further “reciprocal” tariffs on countries that retaliate. On the weekend Trump signed an executive order that seemingly targets Canada’s lumber industry as a “national emergency” and last month announced plans to add duties on Canadian steel and aluminum imports.
Meanwhile, the flurry of Trump tariff pronouncements has raised alarm bells even in the US.
On Monday the US Conference of Mayors issued an ‘emergency resolution’ stating that the tariffs would cause “severe economic harm” on both businesses and American consumers.
“American cities and our residents benefit from a healthy trade relationship with Canada and Mexico. That’s why American mayors supported in 2020 President Trump’s US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which strengthened and rebalanced North American trade,” said USCM President Andrew Ginther, who is also the mayor of Columbus, OH.
“The economic relationship with our allies has created millions of American jobs and provided economic opportunity for our businesses. By implementing these tariffs, the federal government would instead stall economic growth, threaten jobs and wages, and put even more pressure on the cost of living in the United States.”
“American mayors urge the president to reverse course and protect trade with our neighbours.”
