U.S. President Donald Trump has announced tariffs on trade with Canada, Mexico and China, set to take effect on February 1. President Trump has cited the illegal flow of fentanyl, immigration challenges and trade practices with Canada and Mexico for his decision to impose trade levies.
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00:00In a blow to the U.S.'s top three trading partners,
00:03the U.S. has confirmed it's imposing steep tariffs
00:06on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China.
00:09Can you clarify whether those will actually be going
00:11into effect tomorrow, or whether there might be
00:14some lead time?
00:14Yes.
00:15And are those, they will be going into effect tomorrow?
00:17Correct.
00:17From February 1st, the U.S. will impose 25% tariffs
00:22on imports from Canada and Mexico,
00:24along with 10% on Chinese goods.
00:28It comes after a flurry of tariff threats
00:30made by U.S. President Donald Trump
00:32during his presidential campaign.
00:34He says the action will help curb national security issues
00:38such as illegal migration and the smuggling of chemicals
00:41used for making the drug fentanyl.
00:44We'll be announcing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico
00:49for a number of reasons.
00:51Number one is the people that are poured into our country
00:54so horribly and so much.
00:56Number two are the drugs, fentanyl and everything else
00:58that have come into the country.
00:59And number three are the massive subsidies
01:02that we're giving to Canada and to Mexico
01:05in the form of deficits.
01:06The 10% levy on Chinese goods is also meant to punish China
01:10for its alleged role in the fentanyl trade.
01:13While lower than the 25% tariffs Trump slapped on China
01:17in his first term, it's also a signal that U.S. aims
01:20to go hard on its competitors.
01:23But there are concerns such tariffs will raise prices
01:26for everyday American consumers.
01:29If he actually puts on tariffs,
01:30you're gonna get a price impact.
01:32We calculate 1.2% increase in average prices.
01:37And that may sound small, but hey, inflation is a big story.
01:41Inflation is why the federal cut its interest rates
01:45and that's not happy news.
01:47And there'll be price spikes in particular goods
01:50like the others I mentioned.
01:52I should have mentioned also fruits and vegetables,
01:54mangoes, avocados, lettuce, tomatoes.
01:57And this is just the beginning.
01:59After a meeting with chip giant NVIDIA CEO
02:02Jensen Huang on Friday,
02:03he said tariffs on computer chips are coming.
02:07Trump has previously threatened tariffs
02:09of up to 100% on semiconductors,
02:12a move meant to boost chip manufacturing in the U.S.
02:16and one that would impact Taiwan's semiconductor industry,
02:19prompting Taipei to try and show up its ties with Washington.
02:23With Trump's duties set to disrupt
02:25nearly 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars in North American trade,
02:30it's a signal to all countries
02:32that the U.S. will not go easy on partners or competitors.
02:36Adil Prar and Ryan Wu for Taiwan Plus.