US President Donald Trump suspended the 25% tariffs on most goods from Canada and Mexico, that he had imposed earlier this week. He said that the delay on tariffs is only for a short-term period before the “big one” is imposed from April 2. Dismissing the reports that suggested that his decision was influenced due to fear of market volatility, Trump maintained his side on trade protectionism and also signalled for more measures to come into effect.
‘We protect everyone, many of these countries are Globalists’ – Trump hinting towards India?
When asked on Thursday if his tariffs were causing fear in the markets, Trump shifted the blame elsewhere. He said that many of the “globalist countries” and companies aren’t going to do well either and that US is “taking back things” that were taken from them years ago. However, he did not clarify what he meant by “things”.
Reiterating that US has been treated unfairly, Trump added, “We protect everybody. We do everything for all these countries, and a lot of these are globalist in nature.”
Later in the same event, Trump again blamed “globalists” for the market drop. He said it is these globalists who don’t like US getting richer. Throughout the hour, Trump used the term “globalist” to describe people, companies, and countries, making it unclear exactly who or what he was referring to.
Trump on Reciprocal Tariffs: What’s to come?
Commenting on the reciprocal tariffs, Trump said, “Those are happening next week, and the big one will be on April 2nd when reciprocal tariffs (are introduced).”
Trump also signalled that he will be taking actions to reduce their dependance on Canadian imports and instead focus on expanding US’ domestic resource. The US President called Canada a “high tariff nation”. “Canada charges us 250% for our milk products and other products and a tremendous tariff on lumber and things as such,” Trump said. He added that US doesn’t need Canada’s lumber and that they have more lumber than Canada does. He also said that US doesn’t need cars or energy or “anything” from Canada as US can be “self-sustaining”.
“I’m going to be freeing that up very shortly so that we have to go to other countries to buy lumber,” Trump added.
On the other hand, Trump appeared more generous while talking about Mexico. Trump said that he suspended the tariffs as an “accommodation, and out of respect” for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Trump highlighted that he has a good relationship with the Mexican president and that they are working very hard together in “stopping illegal aliens from entering the US, and likewise stopping Fentanyl.”
Trump further thanked the Mexican President for her “hard work and cooperation.
Trump has often stressed that tariffs are a way to raise the government some money and fix trade imbalances. With new tariffs about to start in the next few weeks, it’s still unclear how these changes will affect trade between North America.