President Donald Trump said Monday he is still studying whether to impose a new universal tariff on all imported goods, but put Canada and Mexico on notice that they could face a new 25 percent duty on their exports to the United States in less than two weeks.
“We’re not ready for that yet,” Trump said at the White House when asked about his campaign promise to impose a new tariff of 10 or 20 percent on all the goods that the United States imports from around the world.
During the campaign, Trump also threatened a separate 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods, building on duties ranging from 7.5 percent to 25 percent that he imposed on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods in his first term.
The Congressional Budget Office in December projected the tariffs outlined by Trump during the campaign would take a big bite out of economic growth and boost prices, contrary to Trump’s other goals of creating more jobs and curbing inflation. But CBO also found the additional duties would cut the U.S. budget deficit by as much as $3 trillion over a decade, making it appealing to the Trump administration as a new source of revenue.
