President Donald Trump on Tuesday doubled down on his threat to impose stiff tariffs on the United States’ top trading partners Feb. 1, despite allies’ assertions Tuesday that the tariff agenda is likely to take shape over a longer, 100-day period.
Asked about his plans to raise tariffs on China at a White House event on AI infrastructure, Trump responded: “We’re talking about a tariff of 10 percent on China based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada. Probably Feb. 1 is the date we’re looking at. For Mexico and China we’re talking about approximately, approximately 25 percent.” Trump previously threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and he presumably meant to say Canada in the latter sentence.
The new president first floated the Feb. 1 date shortly after his swearing-in Monday, telling reporters who asked about his timeline for potential tariff increases on Canada and Mexico, “I think Feb. 1. I think we’ll do it Feb. 1.”
That date, however, is not mentioned anywhere in the sweeping executive order on trade that the Trump White House issued late Monday night. The order did not immediately institute any new tariffs, as Trump had promised during his campaign to do on Day One, Instead, it directed incoming Cabinet officials to initiate a number of reviews and prepare a series of policy recommendations, while postponing decisions that could lead to new tariffs until April 1 at the earliest.