President Biden said Thursday he hoped President-elect Donald Trump would reconsider his tariff plans and warned that they may be “counterproductive” in keeping strong relationships with allies.
“I hope he rethinks it. I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do,” Mr. Biden said while delivering pies with first lady Jill Biden to members of the Nantucket Fire Department in Massachusetts. “We’re surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and two allies, Mexico and Canada. The last thing we need to do is begin to screw up those relationships.”
The Washington Times reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment.
Mr. Biden’s comments follow Mr. Trump’s announcement on Monday that he would sign an executive order that would slap a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, and another 10% on China, a threat he made throughout his presidential campaign.
Mr. Trump said the idea behind the tariffs is to pressure the target countries to boost their efforts to quell the flow of illegal migrants and fentanyl into the U.S.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post. “We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
SEE ALSO: Trump, Mexico’s President Sheinbaum disagree over migration deal details after phone call
His plan has already met resistance from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who announced that she would establish retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. and warned that implementing a 25% tariff against Mexico could lead to a loss of up to 400,000 jobs in the U.S.
The pair had a conversation on Wednesday that they both said went well but with differing characterizations on how Mexico would approach securing the southern border.
Mr. Trump said in the post that Ms. Sheinbaum had ”agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border.”
But Ms. Sheinbaum’s framing of the conversation showed more daylight between her and Mr. Trump’s vision for border security.
“In our conversation with President Trump, I explained to him the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon, respecting human rights,” Ms. Sheinbaum said on X. “Thanks to this, migrants and caravans are assisted before they reach the border. We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.”
Canada is similarly preparing for retaliatory tariffs, which the country did during Mr. Trump’s first term when he established tariffs on certain goods. A Canadian government official told The Associated Press that the country has begun thinking about items to impose a tariff on if Mr. Trump follows through with his plan.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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