Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has instructed the country’s Economy Ministry to prepare all possible measures in response to the US imposition of import duties on Mexican goods, calling the White House’s accusations against the Mexican government regarding its ties to criminal organizations slanderous.
“I am instructing the Minister of Economy to implement Plan B, which we are working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures to protect Mexico’s interests,” Sheinbaum wrote on social media platform X.
She also accused the United States of ineffectively combating the spread of fentanyl and supplying weapons to criminal groups in Mexico.
Sheinbaum suggested that Trump create a working group with the participation of the best experts in the field of public health and security, solving the problems “not through the introduction of tariffs, but through negotiations and dialogue.”
As reported, Trump is set to sign an executive order next week imposing 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada and 10% on goods imported from China. At the same time, duties on energy from Canada will be 10% and will affect the entire Canadian energy sector, including oil, gas, and electricity.
Canada will impose a 25% duty on $155 billion worth of imports from the United States in response to the US tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
“In response to the US trade actions, Canada will impose a 25% duty on $155 billion worth of goods,” the prime minister said in a video message.
He explained that starting Tuesday of next week, the duties will affect $30 billion worth of goods, then $125 billion worth of goods within three weeks so that Canadian companies have time to find alternative partners.
The government and the leadership of the provinces and territories are also considering the possibility of imposing non-tariff restrictions on the United States regarding critical minerals, energy and other goods, Trudeau said.
US President Donald Trump has signed a decree imposing duties on goods from Canada, China and Mexico. The rates for products from Canada and Mexico will be up to 25%, and for Chinese goods – 10%.
Trump explained this decision by the need to combat illegal migration and drug smuggling.
Previously, the US, Canada, and Mexico had a free trade agreement, the USMCA, signed by Trump in his first term in office. The new duties could have a negative impact on the economies of Canada and Mexico, which could lose up to 2% of GDP. For the United States, the consequences will be less severe, with a 0.3% decline in GDP projected.
Canada and Mexico have already expressed disappointment with Washington’s decision. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that Canada would be forced to respond with tough measures. Mexico, which is the largest trading partner of the United States, may also suffer significant losses, as more than 80% of its exports go to the United States.
The new duties will also affect German automotive companies such as Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, which use Mexico as a production base for supplies to the US market. Experts fear that Chinese manufacturers, faced with barriers in the US, will increase pressure on European markets, which could lead to price wars.
The United Steelworkers trade union called on the White House to reconsider the decision, emphasizing that the duties harm both Canada and the United States. At the same time, Canada is considering diversifying its trade ties to reduce its dependence on the United States.
Source: https://amp.dw.com/ru/prezident-ssa-vvel-posliny-na-tovary-iz-kanady-kitaa-i-meksiki/a-71484154
Donald Trump has said that the United States absolutely needs to establish control over Greenland. He already wanted to buy the island during his first presidential term. He wrote about it on the social network Truth Social.
“For the purpose of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America believes that possession and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he wrote.
The publication reminds that the United States has repeatedly tried to buy Greenland, the world’s largest island that is not a continent, since 1867. Greenland is considered part of the continent of North America, but has close geopolitical ties with Europe and receives funding from the European Union, as it is classified as an overseas territory connected to the bloc through Denmark.
Greenland’s natural resources include gold, silver, copper, and uranium, and the waters off the coast are believed to contain significant oil reserves.
Trump put forward the idea of the US buying Greenland in 2019 during his first presidential term. At the time, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rejected the proposal, calling it “absurd.” After that, Trump canceled his trip to Denmark.
The U.S. Department of Commerce (U.S. Department of Commerce) has maintained the existing anti-dumping duties on construction steel rebar from Ukraine, Belarus, Indonesia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland and China.
According to the Ministry of Commerce in the Federal Register on December 13 this year, such conclusions are contained in the findings of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) dated December 10, 2024, following the fourth five-year review of the duties.
The document emphasizes that the USITC believes that the elimination of duties on rebar from Belarus, China, Indonesia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine “is likely to result in continued or recurring material injury to the U.S. industry within a reasonable foreseeable time.”
It is specified that the Commission decided to conduct the review of the duties on November 1, 2023. Hearings on this topic were held on October 3, 2024.
As reported, on November 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce published information on the initiative of the fourth review of anti-dumping duties on rebar from seven countries.
The amount of the duty on the supply of Ukrainian reinforcing bars (Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bars) to the US market since their introduction (2002) is 41.69%.
It was also reported that in mid-2000, the Rebar Trade Action Coalition (RTAC), an association of American producers of iron bars, and its individual members, Ameri Steel (Tampa, FL), Auburn Steel Co, Inc. (Auburn, NY), Birmingham Steel Corp. (Birmingham, AL), Border Steel, Inc. (El Paso, TX), CMC Steel Group (Seguin, TX), Marion Steel Co. (Marion, OH), Nucor Steel (Darlington, SC) and Riverview Steel (Glassport, PA) – filed a petition with the International Trade Commission to initiate an anti-dumping investigation against imports of these products, in particular from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian respondent in this investigation was Kryvorizhstal, which was later acquired by Mittal Steel, renamed ArcelorMittal.
In mid-2001, the Commission recognized that rebar supplies, in particular from Ukraine, were harming U.S. producers of similar products by supplying them at dumped prices, and in 2002 an anti-dumping duty of 41.69% was imposed.
Under US law, anti-dumping duties are reviewed every five years.
“ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest rolled steel producer in Ukraine. It specializes in long products, including rebar and wire rod.
Ukraine has received a $1.35 billion grant from the United States, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“The U.S. government has allocated funding through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and in coordination with the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of State,” Shmyhal wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to him, the funds will be used for priority humanitarian and social programs.
“The funding raised is aimed at reimbursing priority social and humanitarian expenditures of the state budget, in particular, to ensure the payment of salaries to educators,” the press service of the Ministry of Finance said.
It is noted that the funds were transferred to the state budget of Ukraine through the World Bank’s Public Expenditure Support for Sustainable Governance in Ukraine (PEACE in Ukraine) project.
“Since February 2022, direct budget support from the United States has reached $28.2 billion. This is the largest financial assistance to Ukraine among all countries of the world (…),” said Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko.
The Ministry of Finance reminds that this year Ukraine expects $7.8 billion in budget support from the United States, of which $5.2 billion has already been mobilized.
