Trump: Secure the Borders or Pay Tariffs

Donald Trump wants to ensure that America’s neighbors to the north and south help him fight the migrant crisis, announcing that he will punish both Canada and Mexico with a 25% tariff on goods until migrants stop crossing into America from their lands.

Justin Trudeau reportedly called Donald Trump within two hours of his public remarks. “Canada is essential to US domestic energy supply and last year 60 percent of US crude oil imports originated in Canada,” read the statement issued by Trudeau, finance minister Chrystia Freeland and public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc. This certainly would hurt any attempt at a Keystone XL Pipeline revival. The long-negotiated USMC deal would be moot. The problem with tariffs here that Trump does not understand is that they will hurt the people on BOTH sides. Mexico has not responded to Trump’s statements at the time of this writing, but the president stated in an interview that tariffs would be met with retaliatory tariffs, further stifling free trade.

Trump also noted his dissatisfaction with China’s handling of the fentanyl crisis. Until China implements the death penalty to fentanyl producers, the entire nation will face a 10% tariff on goods. “’I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail,’ Trump wrote. ‘Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before,” Trump stated.

Skilled at diplomatic relations, China agreed with Trump and said that they are working to meet his demands. “The Chinese side has notified the US side of the progress made in US-related law enforcement operations against narcotics,’ said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in DC, later adding that “China believes that China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial.”

Trump would unintentionally punish the American people through these tariffs as the costs are always passed on to the consumer. We cannot threaten top trading partners by punishing them with fines as the private sector and personal consumer will be punished, not the governments. Positive reinforcement has worked for Italy, for example, as Meloni has negotiated favorable deals with neighboring nations to entice them to curb the flow of migrants. Tariffs are certainly NOT the way to deal with this crisis.