Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China will remain until these countries do not effectively block the Fentanyl Flow to the US, high officials of the White House said.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, will maintain the new tariffs in force about Mexico, Canada and China to press them to block the flow of the mortal Fentanyl Opioide to the United States, said the main economic officials of the White House on Sunday.
“If the fentanil ends, I think these (tariffs) will disappear,” said the secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, in the “Meet the Press” program of the NBC.
“But if the (traffic of) fentanil does not end, or if it is not sure about it, it will stay that way,” he said. “This is black and white. You have to save American lives.”
Last week, Trump issued a series of drastic tariff decisions that affected the three main stock market indices in the United States and relations with Canada and Mexico, long -standing allies in the United States and its closest neighbors, as well as its two largest commercial partners.
Trump first imposed 25 % tariffs on Canadian and Mexican exports to the United States, then exempt tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico and Canada that were transported to the United States and later, at the end of the week, delayed tariffs to almost all articles for four weeks until April 2.
But Lutnick said that American tariffs of 25 % to steel and aluminum imports will enter into force on Wednesday as programmed. Canada and Mexico are the main metal exporters to US markets, and Canada represents most of aluminum imports.
The Chief of Commerce also rejected the fears that Trump's global tariffs cause a recession in the United States.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “There will be no recession in the United States.”
But Lutnick acknowledged that tariffs would lead to higher prices for American consumers in goods manufactured abroad.
“Some products manufactured abroad may be more expensive, but American products will be reduced, and that is the point,” Lutnick said. It was not clear how the goods produced in the United States would be reduced, except compared to products manufactured abroad.
Trump, in an interview recorded with the program “Sunday Morning Futures” by Fox News, eluded a question about a possible recession due to its tariff increases, but said: “There is a period of transition because what we are doing is very large.”
“There could be a small disturbance,” he said about the losses of the stock market last week. “Look, what I have to do is build a strong country. You really can't see the stock market. If we look at China, they have a 100 -year perspective. We rely on quarters. And you can't follow that path.”
Trump has said on several occasions that his new tariffs are aimed at increasing government income, protecting US jobs and pressing foreign manufacturers to transfer their operations to the United States, and curb the fentanyl flow.
Like Lutnick, Kevin Hasett, director of the National Economic Council of the White House, emphasized the problem of fentanyl in an interview in the “This Week” program of ABC News. He said that Trump tariffs directed to Canada and Mexico, together with the duplication of an anterior 10 % tariff on Chinese exports to 20 %, aim to reduce the tens of thousands of deaths from fentanyl that have occurred in recent years.
“We launched a war against drugs, not a commercial war,” he said. “We hope to end the cartels” while there is a pause in tariffs to Mexico and Canada.
“It's a big problem,” he said. “Take out the drug cartels in Canada and Mexico.”
Both Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, and the outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, told Trump in telephone conversations last week that have made progress to curb the Fentanyl flow to the US.
Sheinbaum sent 10,000 troops to the northern border with the US to try to stop the flow of undocumented drugs and migrants, while Trudeau also intensified border security.
But it is not clear if Trump will be satisfied enough with Mexican and Canadian efforts to eliminate tariff increases next month.
Even with the effort of the White House aimed at fentanyl, Hassett said that Trump's economic concerns remain equally important.
“He is trying that when we produce something, we do it at home,” not in another country, Hassett said. “Bring jobs home, bring wealth home. If you want to increase the welfare of Americans, then create jobs here. ”