The White House has confirmed that President Donald Trump will be slapping aggressive tariffs on major US trading partners, including China, Canada, and Mexico, from today.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the US will be levying 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada as well as a 10 percent duty on China for allowing the distribution of the illegal fentanyl into the US, which has killed tens of millions of Americans.
She, however, declined to offer additional details on the new tariffs. Donald Trump has said he wants Canada and Mexico to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants and illegal drugs into the United States.
Many voters backed the Republican on the promise that he could cut inflation, but tariffs could trigger higher prices and potentially disrupt the energy, car, lumber and agricultural sectors.
Mr Trump had said he was weighing issuing an exemption for Canadian and Mexican oil imports.
“I’m probably going to reduce the tariff a little bit on that,” Mr Trump said.
“We think we’re going to bring it down to 10%.”