U.S. President Donald Trump announced steep tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The tariffs, set to take effect on Tuesday, include a 25% levy on Canadian and Mexican imports and a 10% tax on Chinese goods. Canadian energy faces a lower 10% tariff. Trump’s tariffs threaten to disrupt the $1.6 trillion trade between Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. each year.

The tariffs are to blow up the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which entered into force on July 1, 2020. There is no exception for fresh produce in the proposed new tariffs. In 2023, Mexico and Canada supplied 51 percent and 2 percent, respectively, of U.S. fresh fruit imports, and 69 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of U.S. fresh vegetable imports in terms of value. Mexico and Canada account for nearly half of U.S. agricultural imports, including two-thirds of vegetable imports.

“The Border Trade Alliance cheered when, during his first term, President Trump passed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which brought U.S. trade policy into the 21st Century and solidified North America’s position as the globe’s most economically competitive trading bloc”, said BTA Chairman Pete Sepulveda, Jr., of the Border Trade Alliance.

“Slapping tariffs on the U.S.’ neighbors, friends, and leading trade partners is a major step backward. Tariffs will force domestic prices upward, undermining the president’s goal of getting inflation under control, and they risk goods marked ‘Made in the USA’ being hit with retaliatory tariffs that will cost American jobs”, added Border Trade Alliance President Ms. Britton Mullen.