Trump vows 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada imports; 10% on China

US President-elect Donald Trump has said he intends to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, along with a 10 percent tariff on imports from China in response to the illegal drug trade and immigration.

In a series of posts to his Truth Social social media account on Monday, Trump vowed to hit some of the United States' largest trading partners with sweeping tariffs on all goods entering the country.

"On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders," he wrote.

In another post moments later, the past and future president said he would also be slapping China with a 10 percent tariff, "above any additional Tariffs," on all of its products entering the US in response to its failure to tackle fentanyl smuggling.

Key part of Trump's agenda

Tariffs are a key part of Trump's economic agenda, with the Republican president-elect vowing wide-ranging duties on allies and adversaries alike while he was on the campaign trail ahead of his November 5 victory.

Many economists have warned that tariffs would hurt growth and push up inflation, since they are primarily paid by importers bringing the goods into the US, who often pass those costs on to consumers.

But those in Trump's inner circle have insisted that the tariffs are a useful bargaining chip for the US to use to push its trading partners to agree to more favourable terms, and to bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas.

China hits back

Mexico's finance ministry said: "Mexico is the United States' top trade partner, and the USMCA provides a framework of certainty for national and international investors."

The office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington hit back.

"China believes that China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature. No one will win a trade war or a tariff war," Liu Pengyu said.

The embassy also cited steps it said China had taken since a 2023 US-China meeting after which Beijing agreed it would stem the export of items related to the production of the opioid fentanyl, a leading cause of drug overdoses in the United States.

"All these prove that the idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality," the spokesperson said.