‘Coercive’ tariffs and federal funding cuts could worsen flow of illicit drugs into US, ex-government officials warn
Donald Trump’s policies could leave the US more vulnerable to dangerous synthetic drug trafficking from abroad, even as the administration has vowed to stop fentanyl from entering the country, former government officials say.
This week, Trump imposed tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, ostensibly as a tactic to stem the flow of illicit drugs into the US.
Continue reading...US president paused tariffs on Mexican products covered by USMCA and later stayed tariffs on many Canadian imports
Donald Trump pulled back from his trade war with Canada and Mexico on Thursday, temporarily delaying tariffs on many goods from the two countries once again.
Two days after imposing sweeping tariffs on all imports from his country’s closest trading partners, the US president announced that duties on a wide range of products would be shelved until April.
Continue reading...Treasury secretary Scott Bessent defends the new administration’s aggressive trade strategy
Buying cheap products is “not the essence of the American dream”, Donald Trump’s top economic official has declared, amid warnings that the US president’s trade wars risk increasing prices.
The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, defended the new administration’s aggressive trade strategy on Thursday, two days after it imposed sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico and hiked duties on China.
Continue reading...Move to expand landfill for US hazardous waste stirs disputes between leaders in Quebec and Montreal suburb
The proposed expansion of a Quebec landfill that accepts hazardous waste from the United States has ignited a turf war between the Quebec provincial government and local leaders, who say they oppose putting US trash into a local peat bog.
Local leaders are protesting the move – saying the state is capitulating to a US company in the midst of a tariff war between Canada and the United States.
Continue reading...Remake of 2000 Molson beer ad has the same message as Trump threatens tariffs: Canada will not cower to the US
For the second time in 25 years, a lone figure takes to the stage, an oversized maple leaf flag rippling on a screen behind him as he approaches the microphone.
His hair is perhaps a little greyer but the message remains the same: Canada will not cower to the United States.
Continue reading...CEO Lawson Whiting calls Canada’s move ‘disproportionate response’ to levies imposed by Trump administration
The Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman’s CEO Lawson Whiting said on Wednesday Canadian provinces taking US liquor off store shelves was “worse than a tariff” and a “disproportionate response” to levies imposed by the Trump administration.
Several Canadian provinces have taken US liquor off store shelves as part of retaliatory measures against Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Continue reading...After a call with top executives at GM, Ford and Stellantis, president approves one-month exemption from tariffs
Donald Trump has temporarily spared carmakers from sweeping US tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, one day after an economic strike on the US’s two biggest trading partners sparked warnings of widespread price increases and disruption.
The US president extended his aggressive trade strategy at midnight on Tuesday by targeting the country’s two closest neighbors with duties of 25%.
Continue reading...Canada’s prime minister says the US president wants to usher in the ‘complete collapse’ of the Canadian economy
Justin Trudeau has claimed the aim of a “dumb” trade war launched by Donald Trump is to usher in the “complete collapse” of the Canadian economy and make it easier for the United States to annex Canada.
Speaking hours after the US slapped 25% taxes on Canadian and Mexican goods – and a 10% levy on Canadian energy exports – the prime minister announced retaliatory tariffs on US exports and said his country would remain defiant against the aggression.
Continue reading...Announcement leads to sharp sell-off on Wall Street as Trump also vows tariffs on farm products starting in April
The US will press ahead with steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico from Tuesday, Donald Trump has said, setting the stage for a trade war with his country’s two largest economic partners.
Hours before his administration was due to hit America’s closest neighbors with sweeping import duties, the US president claimed there was “no room left” for a deal to avoid their imposition. The announcement led to a sharp sell-off on Wall Street.
Continue reading...US president’s plan could prove to be an economic shock to both blocs, German thinktank says
Donald Trump’s threatened 25% tariffs on EU imports could trigger “economic turmoil”, sharply push down growth and send inflation soaring, according to a German thinktank.
The Kiel Institute said the US president’s promise on Wednesday that he would impose the levies “very soon” was a profound moment in the postwar relationship between Washington and Brussels and could prove to be an economic shock to both parties.
Continue reading...US president also insists delayed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico will go into effect on 4 March
Donald Trump has threatened China with an additional 10% tariff on its exports to the US, setting the stage for another significant escalation in his trade war with Beijing.
The US president also claimed that he plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting next Tuesday, having delayed their imposition last month following talks with his counterparts.
Continue reading...President opens new front in assault on global trade norms as advisers claim China moving to dominate copper market
Donald Trump on Tuesday opened yet another front in his assault on global trade norms, ordering a new investigation into possible tariffs on copper imports to rebuild US production of a metal critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, semiconductors and a wide range of consumer goods.
Trump, looking to thwart what his advisers see as a move by China to dominate the global copper market, signed an order directing commerce secretary Howard Lutnick to start a new national security investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the same law that Trump used in his first term to impose 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Continue reading...Uncertainty created by tariffs and contempt for rule of law will deter investment, says top economist
Donald Trump’s tariff threats have made the US “a scary place to invest” and may unleash stagflation, the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has said.
“It risks the worst of all possible worlds: a kind of stagflation,” Stiglitz said in an interview with the Guardian.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Dozens of congressional Democrats urge president to reconsider threatened import duties on US’s two largest trading partners
Pressing ahead with steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico risks exacerbating the US housing crisis and threatening the broader economy, dozens of congressional Democrats have warned Donald Trump.
The US president, after threatening to hit imports from the US’s two biggest trading partners with a 25% tax, is weighing how to proceed after approving a one-month delay.
Continue reading...The US is targeting its own allies and its withdrawal from the region has left a power vacuum for China to fill in
While Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, were engaged in a very public row over the deportation of migrants last month, China’s ambassador to Bogotá was enthusiastically tweeting that diplomatic relations between China and Colombia had reached their “best moment”.
After Petro refused to receive a plane from the US carrying handcuffed deported Colombians, Trump retaliated by doubling tariffs and revoking visas for Colombian government officials.
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