Treasury chief urges Canada, Mexico to match US tariffs on China as deadline looms

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Treasury chief urges Canada, Mexico to match US tariffs on China as deadline looms

Members of Mexico’s National Guard ****** to board a plane bound for the northern border after ******** President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump to bolster border enforcement efforts in response to Trump’s demand to crack down on immigration and drug smuggling, at the Cancun International Airport, in the metropolitan area of Cancun, Mexico February 4, 2025. 

Paola Chiomante | Reuters

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent encouraged Canada on Friday to follow Mexico in matching U.S. tariffs on ******** goods as the two U.S. neighbors sought to avoid punishing 25% U.S. 

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 due on Tuesday over fentanyl trafficking.

********* and ******** officials have fanned out across Washington seeking to show President 

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‘s administration that they were making progress in securing their U.S. borders to curb the flow of the dangerous opioid.

Bessent, speaking in a Bloomberg Television 

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 said Mexico had proposed matching the U.S. tariffs aimed at China, but he did not specify which level. Trump on February 4 imposed a 10% duty on all ******** imports, then said on Thursday he would 

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 to 20% from Tuesday.

“I think it would be a nice gesture if the Canadians did it also – so in a way, we could have fortress North America from the flood of ******** imports that’s coming out of the most unbalanced economy in the history of modern times,” Bessent said.

China’s embassy in Washington said Trump’s unilateral tariff hikes would severely violate World Trade Organization rules and hurt both ******** and U.S. interests.

“Pressuring, coercion and threat is not the right way to deal with China. Instead, mutual respect is the basic prerequisite,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement to Reuters.

The ******** and ********* governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Bessent’s remarks.

More meetings

********* Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said at the end of a four-day visit to Washington that he continued to communicate with Trump administration that Canada was acting swiftly to secure its borders.

“We’ve made some very serious adjustments, investments, improvements on the border, and we spent the entire week for four days of meetings, communicating those results, communicating those improvements to our counterparts here in Washington,” McGuinty told reporters after meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan.

******** Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said he had a “cordial working meeting” with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. In a 

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 Ebrard said the U.S. and Mexico “have a great future working together” but offered no details on discussions over the U.S. tariff deadline.

Trump cited insufficient progress in reducing fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. for the planned duties on more than $900 billion worth of annual imports from Canada and Mexico.

Drug suspects extradited

Mexico on Thursday staged its largest 

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 of suspected drug cartel members in 10 years, including a 1980s kingpin who spent decades in prison for the ******* of a U.S. drug enforcement agent and 28 other suspects.

Rafael Caro Quintero, 72, pleaded not guilty on Friday in federal court in New York on U.S. drug trafficking charges that could result in his execution. The other extradited suspects included younger leaders accused of moving fentanyl into the U.S.

Mexico’s Deputy Economy Minister Vidal Llerenas said on Thursday that Mexico could adopt 

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 beyond the recent tariffs it imposed on certain imports to reduce low-value shipments from China.

The U.S. earlier this month moved to suspend the “de minimis” duty-free exemption for packages valued below $800 that has allowed fentanyl and its precursor chemicals to 

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 through U.S. airports and border crossings.

But as packages piled up, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency 

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 until it could put effective screening measures in place.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 72,776 people died from synthetic opioids in 2023 in the U.S., chiefly from fentanyl.

The Tuesday tariff deadline for China coincides with the start of its annual parliamentary meetings on Wednesday, a prime event on Beijing’s political calendar, where leaders are expected to unveil their main economic priorities for 2025.

Trump’s announcement leaves Beijing with less than a week to publish countermeasures, as the Trump administration shows signs of a hardening stance towards its strategic rival despite backing down on the threat of 60% tariffs when Trump took office on January 20.

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#Treasury #chief #urges #Canada #Mexico #match #tariffs #China #deadline #looms

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