US President Donald Trump’s new 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20pc, launching new trade conflicts with the top three US trading partners.

The tariff actions, which could upend nearly $2.2 trillion in two-way annual US trade went live at 12:01am EST (10am Pakistan time), hours after Trump declared that all three countries had failed to do enough to stem the flow of the deadly fentanyl opioid and its precursor chemicals into the US.

Canada and Mexico, which have enjoyed a virtually tariff-free trading relationship with the US for three decades, were poised to immediately retaliate against their longtime ally.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa would respond with immediate 25pc tariffs on C$30 billion ($20.7bn) worth of US imports, and another C$125bn ($86.2bn) if Trump’s tariffs were still in place in 21 days.

He said previously that Canada would target American beer, wine, bourbon, home appliances and Florida orange juice.

“Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship,” Trudeau said, adding that they would violate the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement signed by Trump during his first term.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told NBC that he was ready to cut off shipments of nickel and transmission of electricity from his province to the US in retaliation.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was expected to announce her response during a morning news conference in Mexico City on Tuesday, the country’s economy ministry said.

The extra 10pc duty on Chinese goods adds to a 10pc tariff imposed by Trump on February 4 to punish Beijing over the US fentanyl overdose crisis.

The cumulative 20pc duty also comes on top of tariffs of up to 25pc imposed by Trump during his first term on some $370bn worth of US imports.

Some of these products saw US tariffs increase sharply under former president Joe Biden last year, including a doubling of duties on Chinese semiconductors to 50pc and a quadrupling of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to over 100pc.

The 20pc tariff will apply to several major US consumer electronics imports from China previously untouched by prior duties, including smartphones, laptops, videogame consoles, smartwatches and speakers and Bluetooth devices.

China’s commerce ministry on........

© Dawn Business