What happened
President Donald Trump paused his 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada Monday after speaking with their respective leaders, but his additional 10% import tax on Chinese goods took effect at midnight. China said it will retaliate with 10-15% tariffs on U.S. energy products, agricultural machinery and large passenger vehicles, plus restrictions on exports of critical minerals. Beijing also announced an antimonopoly investigation into Google.
Who said what
Trump backed off taxing imports from America’s two closest neighbors for 30 days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced measures to beef up security on their U.S. borders to curb immigration and fentanyl trafficking. But it doesn’t appear “any of those measures were major concessions,” The New York Times said. Mexican National Guard troops have been patrolling the U.S. border for a year and Sheinbaum was already cracking down on fentanyl. And while Trudeau promised a new “fentanyl czar” and cross-border task force, the biggest part of Canada’s border plan was announced in December.
This wasn’t “some genius power play” by Trump, The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial. But “if the North American leaders need to cheer about a minor deal so they all claim victory, that’s better for everyone.”
What next?
Trump called the China tariffs an “opening salvo” and said he “would be speaking to China, probably in the next 24 hours.” He also said he planned to levy import taxes on the European Union “very soon.”