ICYMI: Tariff man is back in action

A good ol’ sense of déjà vu, eh? It’s a throwback to the 2016 to 2020 era as Trump takes office again at the White House. And we didn’t have to wait too long before his first attempt to rattle markets. In case you missed it, he tweeted that:

“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before. Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border. 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. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! 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!”

And on China:

“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. 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

To summarise, he’s threatening tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. For now, the part on China tariffs isn’t as striking as what he’s been campaigning. That being said, it’s important to read it in context with the above relation to Mexico and Canada tariffs. These are “additional 10%” on top of “any additional tariffs”. So, there’s that.

Four more years of Trump tweets moving markets. This is going to be fun. If you’re not keeping a close watch on him already, you should here.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.