US President Donald Trump on Monday (Jan 20) reiterated that he was considering imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canada as well as Mexico with the possibility of implementation as early as February 1.

Advertisment

Additionally, Trump vowed to take punitive measures against other countries as part of his new US trade policy.

"We're thinking in terms of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada because they're allowing vast numbers of people -- Canada's a very bad abuser also -- vast numbers of people to come in, and fentanyl to come in," he said in the Oval Office as he signed an array of executive orders.

Trump reignited his tariff threats against Canada and Mexico, two major US trading partners, just hours after taking office. He accused them of failing to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the US.

Advertisment

Earlier on Monday, Trump vowed to "immediately begin the overhaul" of the US trade system "to protect American workers and families."

"Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," Trump said in his inaugural address.

As President-elect, Trump, during several instances, had threatened tariff hikes on Canadian and Mexican imports, along with an additional 10 per cent hike on Chinese goods, if these countries did not take tough measures to curb the illegal migration and flow of fentanyl into the United States.

Advertisment

Mexico, Canada and China are leading sources of goods imported by the US, as per official trade data.

On being asked about across-the-board tariffs, Trump said he might enact them, but added, "We're not ready for that yet."

Also read: 'Great honour to represent India,' says EAM Jaishankar as he attends Trump's swearing-in ceremony

Canada says 'ready to respond'

Top Canadian ministers on Monday said their country is ready to respond if Trump goes ahead with his plan to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico on Feb 1.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said they “will continue to work on preventing tariffs” but said they are also “working on retaliation.”

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that the US president can be unpredictable.

“None of this should be surprising,” he said. “Our country is absolutely ready to respond to any one of these scenarios.”

(With inputs from agencies)