White House Press Release - President Trump's Tariffs Are a Necessary Solution

Background Information

• TARIFFS STRENGTHEN THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, RAISE WAGES, AND CREATE JOBS:
  • According to a 2024 analysis of tariffs done by McKinsey & Company, "tariffs on imported goods could reduce competition for US producers, increase demand for US-made goods, and create jobs."
  • A 2024 study on the effects of President Trump's tariffs in his first administration found that they "strengthened the U.S. economy," and "led to significant reshoring" in industries like manufacturing and steel production.
  • President Trump's global tariffs on steel created over 4,000 new American jobs.
  • An analysis from the Atlantic Council found that "tariffs would create new incentives for US consumers to buy US-made products."
  • Former Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen affirmed last year that tariffs do not raise prices: "I don't believe that American consumers will see any meaningful increase in the prices that they face."
  • President Trump's tariffs on steel and China "reduced imports of affected steel products by 24 percent…and increased U.S. production of steel products by 1.9 percent."
  • A bipartisan group of Senators wrote Joe Biden in September 2024 asking him to reimpose steel tariffs on Mexico.
• BRINGING MANUFACTURING BACK TO AMERICA:
  • Hyundai's CEO stated on January 14th that investing in the US is the best antidote to potential tariffs and touted the company's newly built $13 billion plant in Georgia.
  • Hyundai Steel is actively considering building a US plant as tariffs loom.
  • Fortune Magazine recently wrote: "Trump's tariff threats are working: Audi ponders a U.S. manufacturing site—and Porsche might join"
  • Auto suppliers Bosch and Continental have begun developing plans to manufacture in the US in order to avoid tariffs.
    • "Wherever we can further localize, and it makes sense, we will do it" – Continental CEO Nikolai Setzer

China – 10%

• DEFICITS:
  • In 2018 President Trump implemented tariffs ranging from 7.5% to 25% on over $360 billion of Chinese imports. Since then, the US-China trade deficit has decreased from nearly $420 billion to just over $270 billion, according to USA Trade Online data.
  • Since President Trump imposed Section 301 tariffs on China in 2018 and were extended by Biden, Chinese exports to the U.S. fell by 25%, and the deficit with China plummeted by 35%.
• CHINA'S ECONOMIC WARFARE:
  • Chinese theft of American intellectual property (IP) costs the US economy an estimated $225 billion to $600 billion annually, according to a 2017 from the USTR.
  • Chinese IP theft poses a threat to US national security, with the CCP targeting a variety of sensitive technologies including artificial intelligence, self-driving, agricultural genetic modification, and telecommunications.
  • In 2024 alone, China hacked the US Treasury Department and nine telecommunications firms.
  • The COVID-19 Pandemic, which resulted in tens of millions of excess deaths and at least $14 trillion in costs to the US economy, originated in a lab in Wuhan, China – something the Chinese Communist Party has continued to deny.
  • China leases the main entry and exit points of the Panama Canal, which is the trade route taken by 40% of all US container traffic, putting the CCP in a position to cut off nearly half of US trade.
  • China has also opened a Confucius Institute in Panama – a CCP-funded educational program historically used to spread Chinese propaganda – that has influenced more than 5,000 Panamanians.
• TARIFFS WORK:
  • $3 billion shoe company Steve Madden announced plans following President Trump's election victory to rapidly halve its Chinese production due to the prospect of tariffs.
  • President Trump's 2018 tariffs were so effective that the Biden administration had no choice but to continue and expand them, with former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating they were "all about protecting American workers, protecting American businesses."
    • Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also stated at the time that "It's very important to protect our workers and our firms in these strategic sectors from the kind of dumping that results when China develops massive overcapacity in these areas."
• FENTANYL/BORDER:
  • Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans age 18-45, killing 74,702 Americans in 2023 and 76,226 Americans in 2022, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
  • US fentanyl overdose deaths increased roughly 25x between 2012 and 2022.
  • Most of the fentanyl destined for the United States is manufactured in Mexico using chemical precursors shipped from China.
  • The CCP actively funds, through tax rebates and monetary grants, companies that manufacture and export fentanyl and fentanyl precursors.
  • The Chinese government even holds ownership stakes in companies trafficking fentanyl and fentanyl precursors.
  • From 2023 to 2024, the number of Chinese migrants encountered at the southern border jumped from 24,000 to a record 36,500.
    • This represents a 52% increase over just one year, and a staggering 11,200% increase from 2021, when 323 Chinese nationals crossed the border.
  • 67,138 Chinese nationals have been encountered crossing the southern border since FY 2021, compared to just 5,650 between fiscal years 2017 and 2020.

Mexico – 25%

• DEFICITS:
  • The annual trade deficit with Mexico under the first Trump Administration averaged $89.3 billion; under Biden, it averaged $135.7 billion.
  • The average annual trade deficit with Mexico increased 52.0% under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
• STEEL AND ALUMINUM:
  • Imports from Mexico have crushed the US's once-thriving steel and aluminum industries, with imports of steel conduit from Mexico surging 577% during the Biden administration. Meanwhile, the US steel industry has floundered, with the business environment becoming so poor that historic American manufacturer US Steel pursued a sale to a foreign-owned multinational.
  • The US steel industry has floundered in recent years, with the manufacturing environment becoming so poor under Biden that the historic American manufacturer US Steel pursued a sale to a foreign-owned multinational.
  • Zekelman Industries — North America's largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturer — has already closed its Long Beach, California, plant and laid off 150 workers specifically because of Mexico's steel dumping.
  • Effects of Mexican steel surge could be disastrous if allowed to continue, with an analysis from the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) finding one million American jobs are at risk.
  • Much of the Mexican steel being imported by the US is originally from China, providing Chinese steel manufacturers with a tariff-free backdoor into the US market.
• TARIFFS WORK:
  • Exports to the U.S. account for 32% of Mexico's GDP.
  • Samsung is considering relocating its dryer production from Mexico to its manufacturing facility in Newberry County, South Carolina due to President Trump's proposed tariffs.
  • LG Electronics is weighing moving its Mexican refrigerator operations to its washing machine and dryer plant in Tennessee due to proposed tariffs.
• FENTANYL/BORDER:
  • The fentanyl crisis is being fueled by "two powerful Mexican drug cartels."
  • 21,148 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the southern border last fiscal year, enough to kill 4.8 billion people.
    • This represents a 50% increase from FY 2022.
  • Over 10.6 million illegal immigrants were encountered at the border under Joe Biden.
  • Since FY 2021, 400 individuals on the terror watchlist have crossed the border, an increase of 2,757% from the 14 that were encountered between fiscal years 2017 and 2020.
    • Six suspected terrorists with ties to ISIS were arrested in a string operation in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia – all of which who were originally released into the U.S. under Harris.  
    • An illegal immigrant from Africa wanted in Senegal for terrorism was originally released into the United States under Harris.
  • According to ICE data, there are over 425,000 non-detained illegal immigrants with criminal convictions in the U.S., including 13,099 murderers, 56,533 with drugs charges, and 15,811 convicted of sexual assault.
  • Nearly 2 million 'gotaways' have evaded border patrol under Harris and Biden, which is more than four times the average under President Trump and more than 500,000 more than the number of gotaways in the decade of FY2010-2020. 

Canada – 25% on Canadian goods, 10% on Canadian Energy

• DEFICITS:
  • The annual trade deficit with Canada under the first Trump Administration averaged $18.7 billion; under Biden, it averaged $61.5 billion.
  • The average annual trade deficit with Canada increased 228.9% under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
  • The lowest annual deficit with Canada under Biden (2021 – $47.7B) was nearly double the highest annual deficit under President Trump (2019 – $25.8B).
• TARIFFS WORK:
  • Exports to the U.S. account for 21% of Canada's GDP.
  • Canada's ambassador to the US Kirsten Hillman told the Associated Press the country is prepared to buy more American products in order to "appease Trump's tariff threat."
  • CEO of $14 billion aluminum manufacturer Alcoa said the company will likely send its Australian output to the US if the US imposes tariffs on Canadian imports.
  • Canada has pledged to spend $1 billion to hire more border agents in response to the threat of tariffs.
• IN ADDITION TO THE TRADE DEFICIT, THE UNITED STATES ALSO SUBSIDIZES CANADA'S TERRITORIAL DEFENSE:
  • Canada currently benefits from U.S. spending per year on NORAD defenses, and protection from the United States Air Force from foreign incursions. The US covers "about 60 percent of the bill for NORAD."
  • In gross spending, Canada allocates only about 3% of every U.S. dollar spent on defense to defending their own territories, $916 billion in the U.S. vs. $27.2 billion in Canada.
    • As a percentage of GDP, Canada spends 62% less per year than the United States on defense, 3.4% of GDP in the U.S. compared to 1.3 percent in Canada.
  • A 2022 announcement from former Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand outlined only a $4.9 billion investment in NORAD over six years and $38.6 billion "over twenty years on an accrual basis."
• FENTANYL/BORDER:
  • Before 2020, most fentanyl was imported into Canada; however, more fentanyl is being produced domestically in Canada. The Globe and Mail reported: "Organized crime groups are producing an increasing amount of fentanyl in Canada, with a growing proportion of those drugs being exported abroad."
  • 43 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the northern border last fiscal year, enough to kill 9.8 million Americans.
    • This represents a massive 2050% increase from FY 2023.
  • Northern border encounters reached new historic levels every year of the last four fiscal years.
    • Under Biden, the number of encounters at the northern border with Canada surged 420%, from 37,186 in 2021 to 193,540 in 2024.