Trump Says Tariffs Are Coming

President Trump said on Friday that the  U.S. will impose tariffs on computer chips, pharmaceuticals, steel, aluminum, copper, oil and gas imports as soon as mid-February.

“That’ll happen fairly soon,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump will be implementing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada as well as a 10% duty on China, in retaliation for “the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country.”

The news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 300 points, or about 0.7%. “These are promises made and promises kept by the president,” Leavitt said. There was no word on potential exemptions to the tariffs.

The White House denied an earlier Reuters report that there would be at least some exclusions rather than simply blanket measures covering all products, and that the tariffs would be delayed until March 1.

President Trump is seeking to use the tariffs as both bargaining chips and methods to effect foreign policy changes, specifically the immigration and drug trade issues. Economists worry that the tariffs could reignite inflation at a time when it appears price pressures are beginning to abate.

But we have seen that President Trump’s tariff threats have worked, with Colombia agreeing to retrieve Colombian illegals after Trump threatened to tariff Colombia at 25%.