Promises made, promises kept: President Donald Trump announced Thursday the United States will a 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada starting as early as Saturday, and tariffs on certain goods from China.
He said he would decide Thursday evening whether tariffs on Mexico and Canada would extend to oil imports.
Tariffs on goods from the two countries is something he promised to do in November, saying the tariffs would be in place immediately at the start of his administration until the tide of illegal immigration is stopped.
More than 15 million illegal aliens – most of them military-age males – have come through the open border since Joe Biden became president and relaxed border policies in 2021. The number of illegal immigrant men of fighting age now inside U.S. borders outnumbers the enlisted men in the U.S. military.
The fentanyl crisis, according to one congressional study, cost the United States a record of nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020, up 37% from 2017. It has only gotten worse under the Biden open-border policy. Much of the fentanyl is coming through Mexico from China.
“Mexico and Canada have never been good to us on trade. They’ve treated us very unfairly on trade, and we will be able to make that up very quickly because we don’t need the products that they have,” he said.
However, the U.S. imports over 5 million barrels a day of oil from Mexico and Canada combined (4.6 million Canada, 563,000 Mexico). U.S. domestic oil production is about 13.5 million barrels per day.
The U.S. also imports agricultural products, such as wheat and other grains. Some 2.4 million metric tons of wheat were imported from Canada during the decade from 2014 to 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Additionally, Trump stated that China would face tariffs on chemicals used to produce fentanyl. He said the tariffs would be in addition to existing import taxes on Chinese goods, including an already announced 10% tariff.
The federal government spent over $66 billion on illegal immigrants in 2023 alone, not including what states, counties, and cities spent that year, or the pass-through funds given to nonprofit organizations like Catholic Charities that are working with illegal immigrants.
Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, spoke before a congressional committee one year ago and said:
“The current surge of illegal immigration is unprecedented. Some 2.7 million inadmissible aliens have been released into the country by the administration since January 2021. There have also been 1.5 million ‘got-aways’ — individuals observed entering illegally but not stopped. Visa overstays also seem to have hit a record in FY 2022.
“We preliminarily estimate that the illegal immigrant population grew to 12.8 million by October of 2023, up 2.6 million since January 2021, when the president [Biden]took office. This is the net increase in the illegal population based on monthly Census Bureau data, not the number of new arrivals.”
Come hell or high water, i will tax Americans so help me God!
Trump said….we have oil, wood, steel, coal and food. Screw the world ha ha ha ha!!!!
Also, Canada oil sucks. Not sweet light oil like Texas and Oklahoma. Why are we importing Canadian wheat. Answer….because we are good neighbors. Now, Trump tells Canada to suck it!
The oil numbers in your article cannot be correct: ????”However, the U.S. imports over 567 million barrels a day of oil from Mexico and Canada combined. U.S. domestic oil production is about 13.5 million barrels per day.” ????
I lost a decimal. Thanks – sd
Suzanne you mean 567,000 bbls day from Mexico and Canada
Adjusted my numbers. – sd