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Trump’s Trade War Escalates, Canada Responds With Retaliatory Tariffs

Trump’s trade war against the US’s neighbors Mexico and Canada, as well as China, continues with sweeping tariffs on the three countries going into effect just after midnight on Tuesday, March 4. A 25% tariff was added on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on imports from China. On March 5, Trump granted a one-month exemption on imports from Mexico and Canada for US automakers, following a conversation with the three largest auto manufacturers in the country: Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, according to an announcement by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Other levies remain in place.

Trump Says 25% Tariffs On Canada, Mexico Will Take Effect On Tuesday

President Trump has said that the US will impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Tuesday, saying there’s “no room left” for the two countries to avoid the measures. Trump signed an executive order on February 1 to impose the 25% tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico and Canada with a carve-out for Canadian oil, which will be hit with a 10% tariff. Trump paused the tariffs for 30 days after speaking with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, who both pledged to work to stem the flow of fentanyl and migrants entering the US. But Trump said on Monday that drugs were still “pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels.”

Speak, Claudia!

Lago de Chapala, Mexico—Watching that procession of hapless European supplicants passing through the Oval Office this week, my mind wandered briefly and came back with an imaginary scene I found pleasurable and instructive all at once: What if Claudia Sheinbaum went to see President Trump right after Andrzej Duda, the ineffectual Polish president, Emmanuel Macron, the ineffectual French president, and Keir Starmer, the hopelessly ineffectual British prime minister? What a kick. The spirited, self-possessed Mexican president, who took office but five months ago, would have put on full display—I am sure of this—the dynamism of an emergent generation of non–Western leaders right next to three exemplars of the wilting, wandering West.

Pentagon To Send Another 1,500 Soldiers To The Border Area

The Pentagon will send another 1,500 active-duty soldiers to the Mexican border to support President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, an American official said yesterday. This would bring the number of troops on the US-Mexico border to 3,600. A logistics brigade from the Airborne Corps based in Fort Liberty, North Carolina, will be sent, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the matter in public. The troops going to the border are expected to help install barbed wire barriers and provide necessary transportation, intelligence and other support to the Border Patrol. The logistics brigade will help support and sustain the troops.

Trump’s Trade Wars Push US Allies Into Open Rebellion

In an increasingly multipolar world, Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and the European Union threaten to erode the United States’ global standing. The move has even provoked a backlash from Canada, a historically close ally, where citizens have responded by launching a significant boycott movement. With the notable exception of Israel, Trump has strained relations with nearly all of Washington’s traditional allies. Among the most unexpected targets of his rhetoric has been Canada, a country he has suggested should “become our cherished 51st state.”

Trump’s Tariffs Could Cause Huge Global Crisis

The US designed the global financial system in a way in which the US dollar is at the center, and other countries need to get access to dollars to pay off their dollar-denominated debt, and to pay for imports. Yet, in order for this system to work, the US has to run a deficit with the rest of the world, a current account deficit, so other countries can get those dollars. But Trump wants to disrupt this. He says he wants to tariff other countries to reduce the US trade deficit, which means that other countries won’t be able to get the dollars they need to pay off their debt and to pay for imports.

50,000 Jobs, Social Programs, And Medical Centers

As the Trump administration intensifies its threats of mass deportations, Latin American nations are bracing for the impact. Mexico’s response, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, has largely flown under the radar, despite its measured and humanitarian-focused approach. While the Mexican government has made it clear that there’s no need to panic just yet, Sheinbaum’s administration is well-prepared to face the challenges ahead. In the week from January 20-26, there were 4,094 people deported to Mexico, the vast majority Mexican. However, Sheinbaum made it clear this number alone isn’t out-of-the-ordinary. “[These deportations happened] With the arrival of President Trump, but if we take it week by week, this is a number that we’ve had on other occasions in our country.”

Mexico And Canada Hit Back, China Pulls Punches On Trump’s Tariffs

Within hours of United States President Donald Trump announcing tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico over the weekend, his Canadian and Mexican counterparts hit back with their own levies on US goods. The response from China, Washington’s biggest strategic rival, was notably more restrained. China’s Ministry of Commerce did not announce specific tariffs in its response on Sunday, stating only that it would take “corresponding countermeasures to firmly safeguard its rights and interests”. The ministry also said it would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization, a largely symbolic measure since its appellate body has been non-functioning since late 2019 due to Washington’s refusal to support the appointment of new judges.

Trump’s Tariff Threats Could Destabilize The Global Economy

Trump told the Davos Economic Forum January 23: “My message to every business in the world is very simple: Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth.” Otherwise, if they continue to try and produce at home or in other countries, their products will be charged tariff rates at Trump’s threatened 20%. To Germany this means (my paraphrase): “Sorry your energy prices have quadrupled. Come to America and get them at almost as low a price as you were paying Russia before your elected leaders let us cut Nord Stream off.”

What Could Workers Win In A New NAFTA?

In his nine years in the auto industry, Ben Hinsey has seen a lot of misplaced blame. The threat of job cuts is always looming. In fact, Hinsey transferred into his current job at the Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, when his previous one at the Chrysler Toledo Machining Plant evaporated in a 2017 wave of layoffs. He now installs instrument panels and serves as a float, moving from job to job to cover absences. Hundreds of thousands of auto jobs have disappeared from the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 and its successor, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), often known as NAFTA 2.0.

Latin American Ministers Meet To Unify Their Stance On Trump’s Policies

On Thursday, ministers, deputy ministers, and heads of delegations from 10 Latin American and Caribbean countries met in Mexico City to develop a joint strategy in response to the threats of mass deportations by Donald Trump. The “Meeting on Human Mobility in the Northern Route of the Continent: Towards an Orderly, Safe, Regular, Responsible, and Humane Management” was attended by representatives from Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, and Venezuela. “In light of the challenges we face in migration matters, we gathered in Mexico City to discuss and coordinate actions aimed at protecting the human rights of migrants, preventing abuse and mistreatment, managing migration from a humanitarian perspective in an orderly, safe, and regular manner, as well as integrating migrant populations,” stated the Mexican foreign affairs ministry.

100 Days Of Claudia Sheinbaum

On Sunday, January 12, 350,000 people gathered in the Zocalo, in the center of Mexico City, to see Claudia Sheinbaum address the people and celebrate 100 days as the Presidenta of Mexico. The rally came at a time of strong momentum for Sheinbaum, having just hit a historical 80% approval rating and her perfectly sarcastic suggestion to Donald Trump to rename the United States “America Mexicana” gathering significant attention online. Such is her popularity at the moment that her approval rating even sits high amongst opposition voters.

How Can US And Mexican Workers Build Cross-Border Solidarity?

Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was passed in 1993, the economies of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have become increasingly integrated. Workers in all three countries have suffered as corporations have used trade rules to maximize profits, push down wages and benefits, and manage the flow of people displaced by these rules. Unions in all three countries have faced a basic question: Can they win the battles they face today without joining forces? That question has only become more urgent under the agreement that replaced NAFTA, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, or T-MEC in Spanish). In February 2024 the UCLA Labor Center, the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center, and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation brought together union and workplace activists from the three countries to talk about labor solidarity in their industries.

China And Mexico Stand Firm In The Face Of Trump’s Tariff Threats

Several days ago, the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, announced his intention to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian products until the arrival of migrants and drugs, especially fentanyl, allegedly from Mexico and Canada is reduced. In a post on his social network Truth Social, the incoming far-right president reaffirmed his xenophobic positions on immigration and blamed Mexico, China, and Canada for the appearance of fentanyl in the country. “As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.

Mexico’s Leftist President Rips Trump Tariff Threat

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday sharply criticized U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on all imported goods from Canada and Mexico, calling the proposal a potentially disastrous distraction from meaningful solutions to drug trafficking and mass migration. "Migration and drug consumption in the United States cannot be addressed through threats or tariffs," Sheinbaum, a member of Mexico's leftist Morena party, wrote in a letter to Trump. "What is needed is cooperation and mutual understanding to tackle these significant challenges."

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