US President Joe Biden on Thursday said he hoped President-elect Donald Trump would reconsider his plan to impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada, saying it could “destroy” relations with close allies.
“I hope he reconsiders. I think it’s the wrong thing to do,” Biden told reporters in Nantucket, Mass., where he is spending the Thanksgiving holiday with his family.
“We have an unusual situation in America – we are surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and two partners: Mexico and Canada. And the last thing we need to do is start to damage that relationship.”
Trump on Monday said he would impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico once he takes office in January until they crack down on drugs and migrants crossing the border, a move that would appear to violate the Canada-US-Mexico free trade agreement.
Such taxes will disrupt the Canadian economy.
As US president-elect Donald Trump threatens to slap a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Canada, The National’s Adrienne Arsenault asks CBC’s Peter Armstrong and Alex Panetta to break down what it could mean for the economy and what options Canada has to respond.
Trudeau, Sheinbaum talk to Trump
In a phone call after Trump’s post, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited the things Canada has already done to improve the situation at the border and suggested Canada’s situation was not as bad as Mexico’s.
Trudeau said his conversation with the president-elect was a “good phone call” where he laid out “the facts.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday that she did not directly discuss tariffs in her phone call with Trump on Wednesday, adding that the two agreed that there would be good relations between the two countries.
After the call, Trump said Sheinbaum “agreed to stop immigration into Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern border.”
Sheinbaum, however, said he has put in place a “responsible” strategy for immigrants before they reach the U.S. border.
Biden, who met with Trump at the White House earlier this month, stressed that he wants the transition between his outgoing and incoming presidential administrations to go smoothly.
“And all the talk about what he’s going to do or not do, I think there might be a little bit of thinking inside … on his part,” Biden said.
Trump has threatened new tariffs on China.
Biden noted that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have established a communication line between the two leaders and direct communication between their two militaries.
“The thing I’m confident about Xi is that he doesn’t want to make a mistake,” said Biden. “You understand what’s at stake.”
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