President Donald Trump will put in place 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on goods from China effective on Saturday, the White House said on Friday, but it provided no word on whether there would be any exemptions to the measures that could result in swift price increases to U.S. consumers.
Speaking to WCCO's Chad Hartman on Friday, CBS News Washington Correspondent Major Garrett says this action, if it actually goes into effect, will raise consumer prices.
"If this holds, and you have to acknowledge that the press secretary saying that is meant to get finance ministers on the phone with Trump to see if this can be averted," explains Garrett. "But if it isn't averted, Mexico is our largest trading partner, and 50% of our auto parts in this country come from Canada or Mexico. More than a third of our oil and natural gas imports come from Canada. If this listening audience or anyone else in America doesn't think there will be economic repercussions and consequences of these tariffs, think again."
Garrett adds those countries will amost certainly look for other trading partners as well.
"If you also, similarly, don't think that Mexico and Canada will look elsewhere or trade elsewhere to compensate for this, think again," he says. "We don't know where this is going to land, but it will not land without increased costs somewhere in our economy, full stop."
Trump, a Republican, had been threatening the tariffs to ensure greater cooperation from the countries on stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl, but he has also pledged to use tariffs to boost domestic manufacturing.
“Starting tomorrow, those tariffs will be in place,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “These are promises made and promises kept by the president.”
Trump had said he was weighing issuing an exemption for Canadian and Mexican oil imports, but Leavitt said she had no information to share on the president’s decision on any potential carveouts.
The United States imported almost 4.6 million barrels of oil daily from Canada in October and 563,000 barrels from Mexico, according to the Energy Information Administration. U.S. daily production during that month averaged nearly 13.5 million barrels a day.
He has previously stated a 10% tariff on Chinese imports would be on top of other import taxes charged on products from the country.
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