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It only took President-elect Donald Trump one threat of imposing 25% tariffs to get the attention of Canada and Mexico.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States,” Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Monday night, putting trading partners on notice for allowing illegal drugs and migrants to pour across the border.

No sooner had he delivered notice of his plan than the “Trump Effect” went into play, with both Canadian and Mexican leaders reaching out to the incoming president and the topic trending on social media.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum returned with a statement Tuesday warning of the dire consequences for both the U.S. and Mexico if the tariffs are imposed. She also claimed migrant caravans had stopped arriving at the border though reports of large groups headed to the U.S. have continued.

“One tariff will follow another and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” Sheinbaum said in a letter to Trump, delivering some threats of her own while she could not ignore Trump’s warnings.

Hours after Trump’s post, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly reached out by phone.

Canadian premiers urged Trudeau to take action as Bloomberg’s headline read, “Trump Tariff Shock Sparks All-Hands Response in Trudeau War Room.”

“We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call,” Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday. “This is something that we can do — laying out the facts, moving forward in constructive ways.”

“The incoming US @realDonaldTrump administration has valid concerns related to illegal activities at our shared border. We are calling on the federal government to work with the incoming administration to resolve these issues immediately, thereby avoiding any unnecessary tariffs on Canadian exports to the U.S.,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wrote in a post on X.

Howard Lutnick, who has been nominated by Trump to serve as his Secretary of Commerce, recently described tariffs as a “bargaining chip.”

“Donald Trump is securing the border and he’s not even president yet,” noted conservative radio host Steve Gruber.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman clarified on X that the “tariffs will not be implemented, or if implemented will be removed, once Mexico and Canada stop the flow of illegal immigrants and fentanyl into the U.S.”

“In other words, @realDonaldTrump is going to use tariffs as a weapon to achieve economic and political outcomes which are in the best interest of America, fulfilling his America first policy,” he added. “This is a great way for Trump to effect foreign policy changes even before he takes office.”

Frieda Powers
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