Washington: As promised, US President Donald Trump has introduced his protectionist trade policies and imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico, and 10 per cent on China effective from February 4.
These are America’s top three trade partners, and the largest contributors to its nearly $1 trillion trade deficit.
India have escaped the ‘hit’ in the first blow, as Trump’s first executive order on February 1 regarding imposition of trade tariffs did not mention India.
Trump has often criticised New Delhi’s tariff structure, and many feared the worst. But his decision to keep India away, at least initially, may suggest that bilateral trade negotiations could be on the cards when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the US later this month.
Trump’s tariff move led to vows of retaliation from Canada and Mexico, as analysts warned that the ensuing trade war is likely to slow down US growth and raise consumer prices over the short term.
The President responded on Sunday that Americans may feel economic “pain” from his tariffs on key trading partners, but argued it would be “worth the price” to secure US interests.
“Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!)” Trump wrote in all-caps on his Truth Social media platform. “But we will Make America Great Again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid,” he added.
Trump also gave it back in his typical way to the right-leaning editorial board of the Wall Street Journal newspaper, which had blasted the President’s proposed tariffs in an article titled ‘The Dumbest Trade War in History.’
On Sunday, Trump wrote: “The ‘Tariff Lobby,’ headed by the Globalist, and always wrong, Wall Street Journal, is working hard to justify… the decades long RIPOFF OF AMERICA, both with regard to TRADE, CRIME, AND POISONOUS DRUGS. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER!”
