The Americas | Trade in North America

Mexico and Canada brace for Donald Trump’s tariff thrashing

Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Justin Trudeau are taking different approaches to looming trade war

General Motors Ramos Arizpe plant, in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila State, Mexico
General Motors, an obvious targetPhotograph: Reuters
|Mexico City and Ottawa

How do you handle an ally, neighbour and trade partner who promises to slap you with tariffs? That is the question facing Mexico and Canada after Donald Trump took to social media on November 25th and pledged—for the first time as president-elect of the United States—to impose a 25% tariff on both countries on his first day in power. He said the tariffs would be in place until both fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, and irregular migrants stopped coming into the United States across either border. If he follows through it will cause huge economic damage, and destroy the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the free-trade deal to which all three countries are party.

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This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Getting real”

From the November 30th 2024 edition

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