Trump is doubling down on his tariff threat. Mexico and Canada take him seriously and literally

On Monday evening, newly elected President Donald Trump announced that he would do so impose a 25 percent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico on his first day in office. He also announced that he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on products from China until the government begins cracking down on fentanyl smuggling into the United States.

None of this should come as a surprise, as Trump repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs during the 2024 campaign. When he spoke to the Economic Club of Chicago in October, he said Concerns about the economic impact the high fees would have on Americans were dismissed by calling China a “very stupid country.”

Democrats did their best to sound the alarm about the tariffs, along with Vice President Kamala Harris insisting that this would amount to a “national sales tax” because the costs would not fall on the shoulders of foreign companies, but rather on American consumers.

Despite Trump’s announcement this week, Republicans continue to downplay the tariff threat, even including Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa weighed on Tuesday to say that he still sees them as a ‘negotiating tool’.

“I’m concerned about its potential,” he told reporters. “But right now, I see everything Trump does on tariffs as a negotiating tool. And we will have to wait and see how successful he is in that.”

Republican advertising executive Brad Todd famously emphasized that the press takes Trump “literally but not seriously,” while his supporters take him “seriously but not literally” — an idea that has become the defining axiom of Trump’s time in politics. Earlier this year, Trump said that he “Would encourage (Russia) to do whatever they want‘If NATO were to fail to fulfill its obligations to the organization.

In response, some Republicans responded called Trump’s comments “stupid to say” but others, like Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, said:people need to realize that you should take everything he says seriously, but not literally.”

But when it comes to tariffs, other countries can’t afford to guess whether Trump will take his threats seriously.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke on Tuesday said a rate “would be followed by another in response, and so on, until we endanger ordinary businesses.” The new president warned that this would “cause inflation and job losses in Mexico and the United States.”

Canadian officials have also dismissed the threat, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford calling it “the most insulting thing I have ever heard from our friends and closest allies, the United States of America.”

Their comments are a sign that world leaders are willing to take Trump at his word. The same will probably apply to the European allies in NATO.

Trump’s tariff episode could also be instructive for the president-elect’s other policy proposals. A Scripps/Ipsos poll showed a narrow majority of 52 percent support Trump’s promised mass deportations among undocumented immigrants, that number drops by 15 points if it means families will be separated, and by 10 points if it means food prices will rise.

This was evident from a study by the Pew Research Center 43 percent of people support mass deportations also say that undocumented immigrants should have the means to stay in the United States. This could be another example of voters taking Trump seriously, but not literally: They might like the idea of ​​mass deportations in theory, but not when it comes to their neighbors, their colleagues, or their classmates.

But Trump’s hiring of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Stephen Miller, the anti-immigration hardliner, for his White House shows that he is serious and literal about his desire to carry out mass deportations.

Of course, mass deportations would require more work than imposing a tariff; there is the matter of personnel, cooperation with state and local authorities, and funding from Congress. But he has shown a real desire to see the program through.

Trump is a known liar and promoter of outright disinformation, whether it’s about his past achievements, his wealth and whether migrants in Ohio are terrorizing animals. But he has been remarkably honest about what he wants to do when he returns to Washington. Even without the filter of the press, he has communicated this directly to the Americans several times. They would do well to take him ‘seriously and literally’.