When President Trump refrained from immediately imposing new tariffs on his first day in office, as he had previously threatened, business executives and others who support international trade breathed a sigh of relief. That relief has been short-lived. On Monday night, just hours after his inauguration speech, Mr. Trump said he planned to put a 25 percent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico by Feb. 1, claiming the countries were allowing “mass numbers of people and fentanyl” to come to the United States. On Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump expanded the threat and said he also intends to put an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese products by the same date, saying China was sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada. The statements leave just 10 days before significant levies would go into effect on the United States’ three largest trading partners, a move that could throw both American diplomatic relationships and global supply chains into disarray. Mexico, China and Canada together account for more than a third of the goods and services that are imported and exported by the United States, supporting tens of millions of American jobs.
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