White House Confirms Massive Tariffs to Be Levied On U.S Allies Tomorrow

Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Friday that the administration will levy 25 percent new tariffs on Mexico and Canada beginning Saturday. China will also be hit with a ten percent tariff.

Bloomberg’s Justin Sink asked Leavitt, “Friends at Reuters are reporting that the president has made a decision on the Canada and Mexico tariffs, but that they won’t actually be implemented until March 1st. I was wondering if you could confirm that and talk through some of that.”

Leavitt replied, “I saw that report and it is false. I was just with the president in the Oval Office, and I can confirm that tomorrow, the February 1st deadline that President Trump put into place in a statement several weeks ago, continues. The president will be implementing tomorrow a 25% tariffs on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans. These are promises made and promises kept by the president.”

“The president yesterday said that last night he was planning to discuss whether an exemption would be made on oil imports. Do you have any information on what decision he made there or will there be exemptions at all offered under this?” Sink followed up.

“I don’t have an update or readout for you on the exemptions, but those tariffs will be for public consumption in about 24 hours tomorrow. So you can read them then,” Leavitt replied.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped sharply on the announcement as many economists and observers warned of potential price shocks and other widespread economic impacts from the tariffs. Canada, Mexico, and China are the country’s largest trading partners.

This is a developing story and has been updated.