President Biden said Thursday that he hopes President-elect Trump “rethinks” some of his tariff plans.
"I hope he rethinks it. I think it's a counterproductive thing to do," the president said in Nantucket, Mass., discussing tariff plans for Canada and Mexico formed by the incoming president, according to a pool report.
"We're surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and two allies, Mexico and Canada. The last thing we need to do is begin to screw up those relationships,” he continued.
On Monday, Trump said he would issue an executive order imposing fresh tariffs at the start of his next term on Chinese, Canadian and Mexican goods.
The president-elect said in posts on Truth Social that he would enact 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, while adding an extra 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods. The aim of the tariffs, according to Trump, is to press the countries to increase their efforts on border security and combating fentanyl exports to the U.S.
“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!” Trump said on Truth Social.
In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned of countertariffs on Tuesday.
“One tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put at risk common businesses,” she said.
Trump and Sheinbaum also recently had a phone call, which the president-elect said was “very productive” Wednesday on Truth Social. He said that the Mexican president had “agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border.”
“Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately,” Trump wrote in a different Truth Social post following the call. “THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!”
Sheinbaum pushed back Wednesday on the claim by the president-elect about her country agreeing to close its border on the social platform X.
“In our conversation with President Trump, I explained to him the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon, respecting human rights,” Sheinbaum said in her post, according to a translation from CNN.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.
