The Roberts Bank Port in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. On Feb. 1, US President Donald Trump signed orders imposing across-the-board tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% from China.
Photographer: James MacDonald/BloombergHow Trump’s Tariffs Aim a Wrecking Ball at the Economy of the Americas
After weeks of threats, a North American trade war has erupted. Businesses and investors are bracing for the fallout.
Donald Trump’s move to invoke an emergency and impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China is the most extensive act of protectionism taken by a US president in almost a century. In what may be the biggest geopolitical and economic consequence, it swings a wrecking ball through the regional compact at the foundation of US global competitiveness and economic power.
US firms for decades benefited from the economic alliance between the US, Canada and Mexico, which established highly integrated supply chains that exploit a rare and enviable combination: US innovation, Canadian resource wealth and low-cost labor in Mexico.