‘No room left’ for a deal: Trump says Canada, Mexico tariffs take effect Tuesday

President Donald Trump reaffirmed plans to impose new 25 percent tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods beginning Tuesday, likely triggering a trade war with the United States’ biggest trading partners.

There is “no room left for Mexico or for Canada” to make a deal to avoid the tariffs, Trump told reporters at the White House. “They’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow.”

Trump also reaffirmed that he intends to raise his most recent tariff on all Chinese goods to 20 percent, from 10 percent currently.

The tariff action culminates months of pressure that Trump has put on all three countries to do more to stop undocumented migrants and fentanyl from entering the United States. The 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico were originally scheduled to take effect in early February, but Trump paused the tariffs for 30 days after speaking with their leaders by phone. That pause expires after midnight Tuesday.

Trump went ahead with a 10 percent tariff on China on Feb. 4. That was in addition to tariffs he imposed on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods during his first term. Trump declined to say Monday how much further he was willing to increase tariffs on Chinese goods, saying that would depend on China’s response in addressing his concerns about fentanyl shipments blamed for thousands of U.S. deaths annually.

China has already retaliated to Trump’s 10 percent tariff increase and both Canada and Mexico have indicated they would retaliate, as well, if Trump’s tariffs take effect Tuesday.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in an interview on CNN Monday morning, said Canada and Mexico have done a good job at stopping undocumented migrants from entering the United States but the two countries still need to do more to stop the flow of fentanyl coming across the border.

Lutnick said he would be discussing the issue with the president on Monday afternoon.

“I’ll be sitting across the table from the president pointing out that they have done a good job on the border, but they haven’t done enough on fentanyl,” Lutnick said. “And he’s got to decide how he wants to play [it]. And that’s the key to the president’s advisers. We are around telling them all the details. But then he’s going to decide this afternoon and tomorrow we’re going to put out those tariffs.”

The main thing that Mexico and Canada need to do is “get the [drug] cartels to stop sending in fentanyl,” Lutnick added.

“He knows they’ve done a good job on the border. They haven’t done enough on fentanyl. Let’s see how the president weighs that today. We’re going to talk about it all day today. And then he’ll let everybody know tomorrow what the plan is,” Lutnick said, just a few hours before Trump spoke.