President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday that there is nothing Mexico, Canada and China can do to avoid new tariffs slated to go into effect Saturday, and suggested the rates could eventually increase.
Asked whether there was anything the countries could do to avert the impending tariffs, Trump told reporters, “No, not right now.”
The tariffs, the president added, were for economic as well as border security reasons.
“We have big deficits, as you know, with all three of them,” Trump told reporters as he signed executive orders.
Separately, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall wrote to the president Friday urging him to consider U.S. farmers before proceeding with tariff action.
“American farmers and ranchers rely heavily on export markets for their business success, especially during these times of economic distress across rural America,” Duvall wrote. A targeted approach to tariffs, with specific exemptions for fuel and fertilizer imports, Duvall added, could “minimize negative repercussions” for farmers.
At a press briefing Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the administration would levy a new 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, and a 10% duty on imports from China, echoing comments from Trump on Thursday.
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly was in Washington on Friday as part of a last-ditch effort to avert a trade war. In a post to X on Friday afternoon, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said his government was “working hard to prevent these tariffs.
Trump, however, stressed to reporters that he is not using the tariffs to extract concessions.
“We're not looking for a concession,” Trump said, adding that “we'll possibly, very substantially increase it, or not, we'll see how it is.”
Reuters had reported earlier Friday that the administration was considering delaying implementation – Leavitt dismissed as “false.”
Between them, Canada and Mexico supply more than 71% of U.S. crude oil imports, according to the Congressional Research Service. Canada alone provides some 60%, and Joly warned this week that new tariffs on Canadian oil could leave the U.S. reliant on countries like Venezuela for its energy imports.
Trump told reporters that he would “probably” seek a lower tariff rate of 10% on Canadian oil.
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The president also previewed further tariff actions, a tariff on all oil and gas imports could potentially be introduced on Feb. 18, he said. Eventually, the U.S. will also face new tariffs on imports in several other industries – including steel, aluminum, copper, pharmaceutical imports, and semiconductors.
The European Union is also in Trump’s crosshairs. The president has long complained about trade access barriers hampering U.S. exports to the bloc of manufactured products like cars. Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, during his hearing this week also lamented nontariff barriers ag products like U.S. beef face when exporting to the bloc.
Asked whether EU tariffs might be coming, Trump said “absolutely.”
“We’ll be doing something very substantial,” he added.
Some sectors of U.S. agriculture have been urging the president to reconsider slapping new tariffs on the U.S.’ closest trading partners products. In addition to oil, Canada is a prominent supplier of U.S. potash. Mexican and Canadian officials have also suggested that U.S. agriculture exports could bear the brunt of any retaliatory measures and China has a history of targeting tariff retaliation at U.S. ag.
Mexico and Canada account for around a third of all U.S. agriculture exports, buying $30 billion and $29 billion, respectively. China received around $26 billion of ag products last year, Duvall said.
Accordingly, some lawmakers from agricultural states also made their displeasure known on Friday.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., complained that her state’s farmers still hadn’t recovered some of the export markets lost during Trump’s first term when countries retaliated to tariff hikes by raising duties on U.S. ag products.
“Michigan builds things and grows things. That’s what we do. We’re a northern border state, and have built a beneficial trade relationship with Canada,” Slotkin wrote on X. “These tariffs — and the retaliation on U.S. products — threaten our auto industry and our food growers.”
The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon, also questioned whether a blanket tariff across all U.S. imports from the countries was the appropriate way to address trade issues and concerns over fentanyl and border crossings.
“I’m all for cracking down on China’s trade cheating, blocking fentanyl smuggling and shoring up the border, but Trump’s random tariff actions are just a pointless attack on American families,” Wyden said in a statement. “If Trump’s trade war continues, there’s no doubt U.S. workers will lose their jobs when Canada, Mexico, and China retaliate and slap tariffs on made-in-the-USA products.”
Democratic Sens. Chris Coons, Del., and Tim Kaine, Va., introduced a bill Thursday that would require Congress to approve new tariffs on U.S. allies and free trade agreement partners.
Not everyone opposes Trump’s approach, however, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., told Fox Business Thursday that the tariffs on Mexico and Canada would be a way to get Canada and Mexico to take note of U.S. demands.
“There's a lot of things that we got to get going in the right direction from both countries,” Tuberville said. “Tariffs are a huge way to get this country back going again and get people to listen to you, and that's what President Trump's doing.”
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