With less than two months to go before Inauguration Day, President-elect Donald Trump is already launching salvos on two political fronts that were central to his campaign.
After winning a sweeping election victory by running hard on illegal immigration and the deadly drugs crossing the porous U.S. border, Trump fired off warnings Monday against the three countries with the biggest roles to play.
And the governments of China, Mexico and Canada have been placed on notice: They can cooperate or pay the price.
In two posts published to the Truth Social social media platform, Trump declared that, come Jan. 20, he will use executive orders to impose tariffs of 25 percent on goods from Mexico and Canada coming into the U.S.
“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump wrote.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
Goods coming from China, he wrote, would be subject to a 10 percent tariff.
“I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail,” Trump wrote.
“Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before. Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America.”
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There’s no doubt that Trump’s aggressive strategy holds risks for American consumers — the three countries involved are the three biggest trade partners of the U.S.
As CNN reported Tuesday, tariffs would increase the price of imports — such as oil from Canada, cars from Mexico, and electronics and apparel from China. Americans already battered by the rapacious inflation of the Biden-Harris administration don’t need to see more price hikes at the store.
But there’s also no doubt about the twin evils of illegal immigration and the international drug trade.
Trump’s presidential campaign was largely focused on stopping the invasion of illegals the country has experienced since President Joe Biden won the presidency in 2020. And even deep blue cities like New York City have been forced to admit the problem is overwhelming.
(Even if the media establishment doesn’t worry about a “handful of apartment complexes” being taken over by violent Venezuelan gangsters, it doesn’t sit well with normal Americans.)
The scourge of fentanyl — much of it originating in China and trafficked through Mexico — is too well documented to be in dispute. In 2022 and 2023 combined, according to a USA Today report from January, about 150,000 Americans died from fentanyl. That’s a staggering number.
But instead of taking the problems seriously, the Biden-Harris administration dithered.
Vice President Kamala Harris infamously — and vainly — sought out “root causes” of illegal immigration.
The Biden administration proposed worse-than-Band-Aid approaches to the drug problem, like urging American schools to be stocked with anti-overdose medications, to bring children back to life after they’ve OD’d.
(There’s nothing wrong with saving the lives of children from drugs, but it’s a good deal smarter to go after the source instead of just relying on after-the-fact last resorts.)
Not surprisingly, neither approach came close to solving the problems Trump is addressing head-on.
Dealing with illegal immigration and international drug trafficking demands the cooperation of the three governments Trump targeted in his Truth Social posts.
It’s a good bet his announcements Monday are getting their attention.
To paraphrase Bob Dylan, money doesn’t talk. It screams.
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