Trump Sets February 1 Deadline for Mexico and Canada

Donald Trump has been in office for one day, and he is already setting the world on fire, so to speak.

One of Trump’s first declarations was to tell Canada and Mexico the new sheriff is in town and they better do their part on immigration.

Trump is giving them until February 1 to get their side of the border in shape, or he is going to drop the hammer on them.

Dropping the Hammer

Trump made no qualms about telling Mexico and Canada they needed to do more to help our country with the immigration challenges.

Trump had warned them both that if they did not meet his demands, both countries would face a 25% tariff from the United States.

Trump was asked about his threat after taking office.

He responded, “We are thinking in terms of 25 percent on Mexico and Canada because they’re allowing vast numbers of people … to come in, and fentanyl to come in. I think we’ll do it Feb. 1.”

It will be interesting to see how the market responds to the new threat, as Trump had the markets on edge multiple times throughout his first term in office.

Trump would love to remove income tax altogether and generate enough money to run the government via tariffs, but I don’t really ever see that dream coming to fruition.

The new Mexican president has been posturing during the transition period, but now that Trump is in office, this threat is a reality.

The same can be said about Canada, with Trudeau recently announcing that he was stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party.

Mexico is currently a top trade partner of the United States, accounting for about $454.8 billion annually in imports, so this threat has some fairly significant ramifications.

Canada is right behind Mexico, with about $436.6 billion annually.

Canada and Mexico are ranked one and two in exports as well, so you better believe the markets are very interested to see how all this plays out.