It imposed the tariff on products coming from both United States and Mexico. On Saturday, Canada announced to increase tariffs to be applied on these two countries together with the Chinese imports. This move followed the threat issued by Trump about a plan to increase tariffs set to take effect at midnight.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the move, emphasizing that Canada will not back down. He ensured that all US goods entering Canada would face the higher tariffs as announced, to be implemented promptly. He said that the people of Canada won't let it come between the two nations. "Canadians have always stood with the US in times of crisis," Trudeau said.
Additionally, Trudeau called for citizens to support domestic products in the wake of the tariff increase, hoping to mitigate some of the effects on Canadian businesses. His statement comes at a time when tensions are rising between the nations, as trade relations remain a point of contention.
Both Mexico and China also made preparations for retaliation. Mexico stated it was willing to enter talks regarding the U.S.'s concerns about illegal immigration, but there were disputes over Trump's remarks associating the country with drug cartels. Mexico expressed outrage over these remarks, which suggested that their reaction to tariffs may not be as conciliatory.
For its part, China was concerned about the potential damage to its economic relationship with America. Still, it signaled it does not intend to take things up a notch and continue the trade war. This may well lead to far-reaching repercussions regarding the U.S.'s major trading partners—Canada, Mexico, and of course China—but also global trade.
Trump's threat of tariffs may hurt American families because it can raise costs and disrupt supply chains. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was already warning that negative impacts will occur, insisting that while the media often frame trade wars as necessary, the truth is they can have very far-reaching and damaging effects on American consumers and businesses.
This latest development in U.S. trade policy highlights how volatile international relations can be and how complex the interest web is between the United States and its neighboring countries.