President Donald Trump signed three executive orders Saturday issuing tariffs on the U.S.’ top three trading partners, the White House announced on social media platform X.
One executive order places 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico, while another installs 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy sources. A third executive order levies an additional 10% tariff on imports from China, per the executive orders. Trump also commented on the tariffs on social media platform Truth Social.
The tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China were set to take effect Feb. 4, though a last-minute deal with Mexico will delay tariffs on that country until March, giving the two time to negotiate. The Trump administration said it was imposing the tariffs to stop the flow of fentanyl across U.S. borders.
“Today’s tariff announcement is necessary to hold China, Mexico, and Canada accountable for their promises to halt the flood of poisonous drugs into the United States,” the White House said in a series of posts on X.
Trump had been promising the tariffs for months, indicating in November he would enact them by executive order on his first day in office.
On inauguration day, he instead issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to conduct a trade policy review, setting an April 1 deadline for recommendations about tariffs and other matters.
In the following days, however, he said the U.S. would still go forward with tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico prior to the trade review deadline, labeling Feb. 1 as the probable date for implementation. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the timeline in a press briefing Friday.
“I was just with the president in the Oval Office, and I can confirm that tomorrow, the Feb. 1 deadline that President Trump put into place in a statement several weeks ago, continues,” Leavitt told reporters.
Responses have been swift. In addition to Mexico's Monday deal to delay tariffs, Canada responded with its own set of tariffs on Sunday, amounting to 25% on select U.S. goods. Mexico and China have also vowed to respond to the tariffs.
In a statement on Saturday, the Retail Industry Leaders Association’ Senior Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Michael Hanson cautioned against the tariffs.
“We understand the president is working toward an agreement. The leaders of all four nations should come together and work to reach a deal before Feb. 4 because enacting broad-based tariffs will be disruptive to the U.S. economy,” Hanson said via email. “The American people are counting on President Trump to grow the U.S. economy and lower inflation, and broad-based tariffs will put that at risk.”
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include information on the delay of tariffs against Mexico.
