94Ha Viewpoint
US President Trump announced that the additional tariffs on Canada and Mexico will take effect as scheduled on March 4, citing the fact that drugs continue to flow into the United States from these countries. At the same time, a 10% tariff will be imposed on China on the same day.
Trump posted on the social media platform Truth Social on Thursday (February 27) that the amount of drugs pouring into the United States from Canada and Mexico is unacceptable, and pointed out that a large part of these drugs are fentanyl, which is manufactured and supplied in China. He also pointed out that more than 100,000 people died from these drugs last year.
Trump said: “We cannot allow this scourge to continue to plague the United States, so the proposed tariffs will take effect on March 4 until it stops or is significantly limited. On the same day, an additional 10% tariff will be imposed on China. The date of implementation of the reciprocal tariffs on April 2 remains in effect.”
Trump announced earlier this month that he would impose a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports, but after the two countries promised to strengthen border control, Trump agreed to postpone the implementation of the tariffs to March 4. Trump created confusion over the timing and scope of tariffs at his first White House cabinet meeting on Wednesday, when he said the tariffs on Mexico and Canada would not take effect until April 2.
Currently, the United States has already imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports. According to Trump’s latest announcement, the additional tariffs on China will increase to 20% on March 4.
Trump also announced on February 13 that he would implement reciprocal tariffs, imposing the same level of tariffs on each trading partner country and each product.
Earlier, the Canadian government said it would wait for Trump to sign the relevant executive order before responding. Canadian Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told the media that Canada’s goal remains to avoid tariffs. He said Canada is ready, if Trump imposes tariffs, “we will respond in a targeted, strategic and firm manner.”
According to official data, Canada and the United States have an annual bilateral trade in goods and services of more than US$1 trillion (about S$1.34 trillion).
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Bismarck and other senior officials will visit Washington and meet with U.S. Trade Representative Greer on Thursday and Commerce Secretary Lutnick the next day to seek an agreement to avoid comprehensive tariffs.
Trump plans to impose tariffs on EU goods, pointing out that the EU wants to “bring down” the United States
Trump also criticized the EU in front of the media at a cabinet meeting held at the White House on Wednesday, saying that he would impose a 25% reciprocal tariff on European cars and other goods, and even pointed out that the establishment of the EU was to “bring down” the United States. This immediately caused a strong backlash from the EU.
Trump said: “To be honest, the establishment of the EU is to bring down the United States. This is its purpose, and they are indeed doing a good job, but now I am president.”
He later added that the EU “did take advantage of us.” According to official U.S. data, the U.S. trade deficit with the EU reached $235.6 billion last year.
When asked whether the tax rate for the EU has been decided, Trump replied: “We will announce it soon, generally 25%.” He revealed that cars will be one of the imports that the United States will crack down on.
The European Commission immediately responded, stating that it would “firmly and immediately oppose” any unreasonable barriers to free and fair trade. A spokesperson for the European Commission said: “The EU will protect European companies, employees and consumers from unreasonable tariffs.
The European Commission pointed out that the EU is the world’s largest free market. This is actually a boon to the United States. The spokesperson said that by creating a large and integrated single market, “the EU has promoted trade, reduced costs for American exporters, and coordinated standards and regulations in 27 countries. Because of this, the United States has made huge profits from investing in Europe.”
In response to Trump’s claim that the EU was established to deal with the United States, former Swedish Prime Minister Bilt posted on the social media platform X, criticizing Trump’s “serious distortion of history” and saying that the establishment of the EU “is actually to prevent war on the European continent.”
Over the past few decades, the United States has highly praised Europe’s promotion of integration, believing that the establishment of the EU in 1993 was a great achievement that prompted the European continent, which was ravaged by the two world wars, to end conflicts. Trump’s latest remarks undoubtedly subverted the United States’ consistent position.
