A barrage of condemnation has rained down on United States President Donald Trump following his decision to impose stiff tariffs on imports from neighbouring countries, Mexico and Canada, as well as its largest supplier of goods, China.
Sunday saw no pause in the expression of criticism on the US leader, a day after he signed three separate executive orders, imposing 25 percent on goods from Mexico and Canada, and 10 percent on all imports from China.
Trump has justified his sweeping decision, citing a national emergency of fentanyl and “illegal” immigration pouring into the world’s largest economy by gross domestic product (GDP).
Reactions from Mexico, Canada and China were the most immediate, as well as a raft of other nations, groups and organisations:
Mexico
President Claudia Sheinbaum ordered retaliatory tariffs against Trump’s decision. In a lengthy post on X, she said her government sought dialogue rather than confrontation with its top trade partner to the north, but that Mexico had been forced to respond in kind.
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“I’ve instructed my economy minister to implement the Plan B we’ve been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests,” Sheinbaum posted, without specifying what US goods her government will target.
Sheinbaum also rejected as “slander” the White House’s allegation that drug cartels have an alliance with the Mexican government, a point Trump’s administration used to justify the tariffs.
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on X that Trump’s tariffs were a “flagrant violation” of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
“It is one of the heaviest attacks Mexico has received in its independent history. It is not admissible, it cannot be accepted, a unilateral decision of such magnitude … We are all going to lose, they will too,” Ricardo Monreal, the governing party congressional leader, said.
The US is by far Mexico’s most important foreign market. Mexico overtook China as the top destination for US exports in 2023. Almost a third of Mexico’s GDP depends directly on exports to the US, economic analyst Gabriela Siller wrote on X.
US exports to Mexico accounted for more than $322bn in 2023, Census Bureau data showed, while the US imported more than $475bn worth of Mexican products.
Mexico has been preparing possible retaliatory tariffs – ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent – on pork, cheese, fresh produce, manufactured steel and aluminium, according to sources familiar with the matter. The auto industry would initially be exempt, they said.
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Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced retaliatory measures, with 25 percent levies on a raft of US imports, including beer, wine and bourbon, as well as fruits and fruit juices, including orange juice from Trump’s home state of Florida.
Canada would also target goods, including clothing, sport equipment and household appliances. Some of those tariffs will take effect on Tuesday, the same day as Trump’s tariffs.
Trudeau said the coming weeks would be difficult for Canadians but that Americans would also suffer from Trump’s actions.
“Tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities,” Trudeau said during a news conference in Ottawa.
“They will raise costs for you, including food at the grocery store and gas at the pump.”
The 9,000km (5,600-mile) US-Canada border handles more than $2.5bn in trade a day, especially in energy and manufacturing, according to Canadian government data from 2023.
“An attack of this magnitude, Canadians will demand that their government respond. I hope Americans understand right now that in Canada there’s a lot of anger. We are supposed to be the United States’s closest ally, and folks are trying to wrap their heads around why this is happening,” said Lana Payne, head of Unifor, representing Canadian autoworkers.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said Trump’s tariffs are a “complete betrayal of the historic bond between our countries and a declaration of economic war against a trusted ally”.
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“As British Columbians, and as Canadians, we will stand strong and united in the face of this unprecedented attack,” he said.
Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford said Canada “now has no choice but to hit back and hit back hard”.
“As premier of Ontario, the federal government has my full support for a strong and forceful response that matches US tariffs dollar for dollar. Canada has so much of what America needs: high-grade nickel and other critical minerals, energy and electricity, uranium, potash, aluminium. We need to maximise our points of leverage and use them to maximum effect. The federal government needs to also pursue every legal route to challenge these unfair, unjustified and illegal tariffs,” he said.
China
China’s finance and commerce ministries denounced Trump’s decision while leaving the door open for talks to avoid a deepening conflict.
The ministries said Beijing will challenge the decision before the World Trade Organization and take unspecified “countermeasures”. The Ministry of Commerce said the tariff “seriously violates” international trade rules, urging the US to “engage in frank dialogue and strengthen cooperation”.
But their response stopped short of the immediate escalation that had marked China’s trade showdown with Trump in his first term as president.
China’s sharpest pushback on Sunday was over fentanyl, which Beijing has been urging the US to crack down.
“Fentanyl is America’s problem,” the Ministry of Finance said. “The Chinese side has carried out extensive anti-narcotics cooperation with the United States and achieved remarkable results.”
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Meanwhile, Zhiwei Zhang, an expert on the Chinese economy, said Trump’s action was “not a big shock to China’s economy”, adding that it was “unlikely to change the market expectation on China’s macro outlook”.
Japan
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Japan, a leading US trade partner, was “deeply concerned about how these tariffs could affect the world’s economy”.
He stressed on Sunday the need to “thoroughly assess” foreign exchange movements and the outlook of monetary policy in the US, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.
“We will have to closely look at how Japan would be particularly affected and take the necessary steps [in response],” Kato was quoted as saying.
Other politicians, analysts and business groups also weighed in.
South Korea
Acting President Choi Sang-mok has ordered government agencies to closely monitor any effect of Trump’s tariff on South Korean companies and the country’s economy, according to the official Yonhap news agency.
South Korean companies such as Samsung, LG and others with a production base in Mexico had been bracing for the US tariffs.
Yonhap quoted CFO Park Soon-cheol as saying Samsung Electronics had been assessing “potential opportunities and risks from the altering geopolitical landscape, including the US presidential election”.
LG Electronics is also considering manufacturing its refrigerators and TVs at its washing machine and dryer manufacturing plant in Tennessee in the central region of the US as part of efforts to evade tariffs, Yonhap quoted company officials.
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The home appliances maker currently operates TV, refrigerator and vehicle components manufacturing plants in Mexico.
US Senator Charles Schumer
The US Senate minority leader says the new tariffs are likely to drive up costs for American consumers.
“You’re watching the Super Bowl next week. Wait till Trump’s tariffs raise your pizza prices,” the Democratic senator wrote on X.
“You’re worried about car prices. Wait till Trump’s Canada tariffs raise your car prices.”
American Petroleum Institute
“Energy markets are highly integrated, and free and fair trade across our borders is critical for delivering affordable, reliable energy to US consumers. We will continue to work with the Trump administration on full exclusions that protect energy affordability for consumers, expand the nation’s energy advantage and support American jobs.”
Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council
“We continue to believe that vehicles and parts that meet the USMCA’s stringent domestic and regional content requirements should be exempt from the tariff increase. Our American automakers, who invested billions in the US to meet these requirements, should not have their competitiveness undermined by tariffs that will raise the cost of building vehicles in the United States and stymie investment in the American workforce.”
